Moelis & Company $MC Shares Sold by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Moelis & Company by 95.4%, owning only 5,715 shares after selling 118,125 shares in the first quarter, with holdings worth $334,000.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for Moelis & Company, with projections ranging from $64.00 to $90.00, and the consensus rating currently stands at "Hold."
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, which translates to an annual yield of 3.5%, despite a payout ratio exceeding 100%.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 95.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,715 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 118,125 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 644 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,460.8% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 796 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 38.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $107,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $69.67.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total transaction of $460,537.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,515.84. The trade was a 97.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $189,639.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $515,544.68. This trade represents a 26.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 0.4%

MC stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $74.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 507,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,260. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.30 and a beta of 1.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.38.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $365.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $269.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 38.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.