Fred Alger Management LLC Has $3.88 Million Position in Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC reduced its stake in Moelis & Company by 70.1% in the first quarter, with current holdings of approximately $3.88 million in shares.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their holdings in Moelis & Company, including MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB with a 1,551.3% increase and Versant Capital Management Inc with a 1,460.8% increase.
• Moelis & Company reported a 38.1% year-over-year revenue increase, with earnings per share of $0.53 for the last quarter, beating analyst estimates.

Fred Alger Management LLC lowered its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 70.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,402 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 155,525 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Moelis & Company worth $3,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 lifted 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 purchasing an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the first quarter valued at $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the first quarter valued at $107,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total value of $460,537.60. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,515.84. This trade represents a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $515,544.68. This represents a 26.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 1.3%

Moelis & Company stock traded down $0.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.69. 421,825 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 525,627. The stock has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41 and a beta of 1.72. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $47.00 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.46.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $269.57 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 42.72%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.36%.

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.