Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 3,549 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 26.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,111 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 3,549 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 644 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 1,460.8% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 796 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of Moelis & Company stock opened at $70.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.36 and a beta of 1.64. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $47.00 and a one year high of $82.89. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $61.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.49.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 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 analysts' expectations of $309.67 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 40.89% and a net margin of 13.22%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 41.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.00.

About Moelis & Company

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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