Axiom Investors LLC DE Sells 135,063 Shares of Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Axiom Investors LLC DE has reduced its stake in Moelis & Company by 47.7%, selling 135,063 shares, leaving them with 148,130 shares valued at approximately $8.65 million.
• Several hedge funds have significantly increased their stakes in Moelis & Company, including MassMutual Private Wealth, which raised its stake by 1,551.3% during the first quarter.
• Moelis & Company recently reported earnings that exceeded estimates, showing a revenue increase of 38.1% year-over-year, and the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65.

Axiom Investors LLC DE cut its stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 47.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,130 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 135,063 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned 0.19% of Moelis & Company worth $8,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 644 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,460.8% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 796 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the first quarter valued at approximately $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 38.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the first quarter valued at approximately $107,000. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MC shares. Morgan Stanley raised Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research raised Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.00.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 4.6%

NYSE:MC opened at $72.6020 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58 and a beta of 1.70. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $47.00 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $67.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.70.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $365.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.57 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 42.72% and a net margin of 14.31%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total value of $460,537.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $9,515.84. This trade represents a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Co operates as a holding company. It engages in the provision of financial advisory, capital raising and asset management services to a client base including corporations, governments, sovereign wealth funds and financial sponsors. The firm focuses on clients including large public multinational corporations, middle market private companies, financial sponsors, entrepreneurs and governments.

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