BNP Paribas Financial Markets Decreases Holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 46.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,942 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 19,584 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $1,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 148.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE MC traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.51. 949,917 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 770,931. The business's 50 day moving average is $55.49 and its 200-day moving average is $67.38. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $47.00 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.11 and a beta of 1.66.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $306.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.67 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 41.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is 119.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MC shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.83.

Moelis & 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.