Moelis & Company $MC Position Boosted by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 250.8% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.09% of the company valued at $3.99 million.
• Moelis & Company reported a significant earnings beat with $0.53 EPS for the quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 38.1% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, representing a yield of 3.7%, although its dividend payout ratio is currently at 102.36%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 250.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,400 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 48,900 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.09% of Moelis & Company worth $3,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 39.9% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 14,600 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 158.9% during the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 161,749 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,440,000 after purchasing an additional 99,274 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.9% during the first quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 43,547 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the first quarter worth $975,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the first quarter worth $350,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. 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. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a 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, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $69.67.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $72.60. The stock had a trading volume of 121,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 902,888. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $47.00 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.63 and a beta of 1.72.

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

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Moelis & Company news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $189,639.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $515,544.68. This trade represents a 26.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total transaction of $460,537.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,515.84. The trade was a 97.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.