Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Buys 85,745 Shares of Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. has increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 72.5%, owning 203,968 shares valued at approximately $11.9 million after acquiring an additional 85,745 shares in the first quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also bolstered their positions in Moelis & Company during the first quarter, with total institutional ownership now at 91.53% of the company's stock.
• Moelis & Company reported earnings of $0.53 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, representing a 3.7% dividend yield.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 72.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,968 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 85,745 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.26% of Moelis & Company worth $11,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MC. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 644 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,460.8% in 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 in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter worth about $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter worth about $107,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Moelis & Company Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE:MC traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $74.53. 122,555 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 894,725. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $47.00 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.34 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.42.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $269.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued 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 3.5%. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is currently 102.36%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 131 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,515.84. The trade was a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $189,639.80. Following the sale, the director owned 7,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $515,544.68. The trade was a 26.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.