Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors increased its Moelis & Company stake by 5% in the first quarter, adding 61,130 shares to hold 1.28 million shares worth approximately $72.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 91.53% of the company.
• Moelis & Company reported quarterly earnings of $0.63 per share, slightly exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 12% year over year to $409.39 million. The company also maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.65 per share, representing a 3.9% yield.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $73.62; recent targets range from $60 at UBS to $85 at Morgan Stanley. Shares opened at $67.08 and have traded between $51.06 and $78.22 over the past year.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,277,774 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 61,130 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.65% of Moelis & Company worth $72,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 39.0% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,800 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Roubaix Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,335,000. Freemont Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,614,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 40,697 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,320,000 after buying an additional 4,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 2.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 361,858 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $20,626,000 after buying an additional 7,985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MC. UBS Group restated a "sell" rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.62.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $67.08 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $51.06 and a 12 month high of $78.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.31. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.85.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.61% and a net margin of 14.50%.The company had revenue of $409.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $387.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is currently 90.59%.

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. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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