Petrus Trust Company LTA Purchases Shares of 3,787 Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA invested $221,000 in Moelis & Company by acquiring 3,787 shares during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab, increased their holdings in Moelis & Company, indicating strong institutional interest.
• An analysis from Goldman Sachs raised Moelis & Company's target price from $56.00 to $63.00, reflecting positive expectations from Wall Street analysts.

Petrus Trust Company LTA bought a new position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,787 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MC. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Moelis & Company by 1,460.8% in 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 in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Moelis & Company in the first quarter worth about $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Moelis & Company by 38.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moelis & Company in the first quarter worth about $107,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

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

Moelis & Company Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of MC stock traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $75.65. 133,729 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 892,059. The stock's 50 day moving average is $71.10 and its 200-day moving average is $62.36. The company has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81 and a beta of 1.72. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MC has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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 report on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $69.67.

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.