Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New $1.38 Million Investment in Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC has purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company, acquiring 23,631 shares valued at approximately $1,379,000 during the first quarter.
• Research analysts have increased their price targets for Moelis & Company, with Wells Fargo setting a new target of $64.00, reflecting strong investor confidence.
• Moelis & Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, yielding 3.6%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 102.36%.

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 23,631 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,379,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,305,688 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $484,720,000 after buying an additional 158,373 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 214.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,942,299 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $171,713,000 after acquiring an additional 2,006,747 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,260,345 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $131,914,000 after purchasing an additional 95,114 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,264,200 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $73,779,000 after purchasing an additional 99,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 958,902 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $55,961,000 after purchasing an additional 83,034 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of Moelis & Company stock traded up $1.63 during trading on Thursday, hitting $71.90. 344,595 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 910,652. The stock has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 1.72. The firm's fifty day moving average is $69.88 and its 200-day moving average is $62.50. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $47.00 and a 52 week high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $365.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.57 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 42.72% and a net margin of 14.31%.Moelis & Company's quarterly revenue was up 38.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 3.6%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Zacks Research raised Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,109 shares in the company, valued at $515,544.68. This represents a 26.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total value of $460,537.60. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moelis & 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.