LPL Financial LLC Buys 4,114 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 7.1%, acquiring an additional 4,114 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total to 61,888 shares worth $3,612,000.
• Corporate insiders, including General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe, have been selling shares, with Watanabe selling 6,340 shares at an average price of $72.64, reducing his ownership by 97.98%.
• Moelis & Company reported a $0.53 EPS for the latest quarter, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.32, and showed a revenue increase of 38.1% year-over-year.

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,888 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 4,114 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.08% of Moelis & Company worth $3,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Madison Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 8.5% in the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,264,200 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $73,779,000 after buying an additional 99,313 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 860,125 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $63,546,000 after buying an additional 36,736 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 215.5% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 723,384 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $53,444,000 after purchasing an additional 494,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 616,604 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $45,555,000 after purchasing an additional 77,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 457.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 485,238 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,318,000 after purchasing an additional 398,129 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total value of $460,537.60. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MC has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. 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 report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

MC stock opened at $72.01 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $47.00 and a one year high of $82.89. The company's fifty day moving average price is $66.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.05. The company has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35 and a beta of 1.70.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released 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. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 42.72%. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 38.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is currently 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.