Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 398,129 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 457.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 485,238 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 398,129 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.65% of Moelis & Company worth $28,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. 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.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:MC traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.31. The company had a trading volume of 162,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 946,766. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $47.00 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The business's fifty day moving average is $61.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.49. The firm has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.71 and a beta of 1.64.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 40.89% and a net margin of 13.22%. The firm had revenue of $306.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 41.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.00.

About Moelis & Company

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.