Moelis & Company $MC Shares Bought by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 405.1% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 155,162 shares, bringing its total ownership to 193,466 shares valued at $11.29 million.
• Moelis & Company reported earnings per share of $0.53 for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analyst estimates, with total revenue of $365.38 million, a year-over-year increase of 38.1%.
• The company announced a $0.65 quarterly dividend, with a payout ratio of 102.36% and an annualized yield of 3.6%, to be paid on September 18th.

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 405.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 193,466 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 155,162 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.25% of Moelis & Company worth $11,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,305,688 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $484,720,000 after purchasing an additional 158,373 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 214.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,260,345 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $131,914,000 after buying an additional 95,114 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,264,200 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $73,779,000 after acquiring an additional 99,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 9.5% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 958,902 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $55,961,000 after purchasing an additional 83,034 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,515.84. The trade was a 97.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Moelis & Company Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE MC opened at $73.24 on Thursday. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $47.00 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.39.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 return on equity of 42.72% and a net margin of 14.31%.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 business earned $0.18 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.36%.

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.

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