Bayforest Capital Ltd Has $1.74 Million Stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 3,395.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,851 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 28,997 shares during the period. Moelis & Company comprises approximately 0.8% of Bayforest Capital Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Bayforest Capital Ltd's holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $1,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 644 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 1,460.8% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 796 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the first quarter worth about $59,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the 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. This represents a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE:MC traded down $1.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.47. 1,087,355 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 873,789. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96 and a beta of 1.64. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $47.00 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.21. The firm 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. Research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is currently 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.