Madison Asset Management LLC Increases Position in Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 45.6% in the first quarter, buying an additional 555,557 shares to bring its total holdings to 1,773,735 shares worth about $101.1 million.
• Other institutional investors also increased or initiated positions, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 91.53% of Moelis & Company’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed to cautious: the stock has a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $73.38, while the company recently reported Q1 EPS of $0.50, missing estimates, though it also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share.

Madison Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 45.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,773,735 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 555,557 shares during the quarter. Moelis & Company accounts for about 1.3% of Madison Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Madison Asset Management LLC owned 2.28% of Moelis & Company worth $101,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the first quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,774 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $72,825,000 after buying an additional 61,130 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,800 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Roubaix Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,335,000. Finally, Freemont Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $3,614,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MC. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group reissued a "sell" rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.38.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE MC opened at $67.10 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.63. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.85. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $51.06 and a one year high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.09). Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.94% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $319.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.51 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.53%.

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. 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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