Raymond James Financial Inc. Grows Stake in Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 12.9%, now holding approximately 0.54% of the company worth about $24.8 million.
• Moelis & Company recently received several upgrades from research analysts, with target prices raised significantly by firms such as Morgan Stanley and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, indicating positive expectations for the company.
• The firm reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $0.53, surpassing analysts' estimates, and a 38.1% year-over-year increase in revenue.

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 425,732 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 48,704 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.54% of Moelis & Company worth $24,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peak Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Moelis & Company by 2.4% in the first quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,567 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.3% during the first quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 76,730 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,478,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.1% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,075 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.8% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,373 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Curated Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 3.5% during the first quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,906 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. One equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.00.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $72.0030 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35 and a beta of 1.70. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $47.00 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.97 and a 200 day moving average of $62.53.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $365.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.57 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 42.72%. Moelis & Company's revenue for the quarter was up 38.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,515.84. This represents a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

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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