Alps Advisors Inc. Sells 41,661 Shares of Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Alps Advisors cut its Moelis & Company stake by 44% in the third quarter, selling 41,661 shares and retaining 53,043 shares valued at about $3.05 million.
• Moelis reported quarterly EPS of $0.75, above the $0.72 consensus, while revenue of $425.6 million fell short of estimates but rose 19.2% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $68.17. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, equivalent to a 4.5% yield.

Alps Advisors Inc. cut its position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,043 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 41,661 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. owned about 0.07% of Moelis & Company worth $3,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MC. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 22.3% during the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 503,899 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,984,000 after purchasing an additional 91,746 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the second quarter worth about $31,529,000. Madison Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 45.6% during the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,773,735 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $101,103,000 after purchasing an additional 555,557 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 24.7% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 87,887 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 17,411 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,774 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $72,825,000 after purchasing an additional 61,130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MC. UBS Group raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.17.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of MC opened at $57.53 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $59.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.59. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $51.06 and a twelve month high of $78.22. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.87.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The asset manager reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 39.59%. The firm had revenue of $425.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $434.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moelis & Company news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.06, for a total value of $129,901.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $527,134.98. This trade represents a 19.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Company is an independent investment bank that provides strategic and financial advice to corporations, governments, financial sponsors and investors. Its advisory work includes mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, recapitalizations, liability management and other complex financial matters.

Founded in 2007 by investment banker Kenneth Moelis, the firm has expanded from its U.S. base to serve clients through offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Its teams advise clients on transactions and strategic decisions across a range of industries.

Kenneth Moelis is the company's founder and has served as its chairman and chief executive officer.

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