Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,039 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,037,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the 4th 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 purchased a new position in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.83.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC traded down $0.28 on Monday, reaching $56.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 593,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 774,852. The stock's 50-day moving average is $54.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.42. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29 and a beta of 1.66.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.07. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. The business had revenue of $306.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $309.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 41.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 119.27%.

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.