State of Wyoming Buys 4,163 Shares of Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• State of Wyoming increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 39.9%, acquiring an additional 4,163 shares for a total of 14,600 shares, valued at approximately $852,000.
• Several other hedge funds, such as Palisades Investment Partners and Choreo LLC, also raised their positions in Moelis & Company during the same quarter, indicating a growing institutional interest.
• Moelis & Company reported quarterly earnings of $0.53 per share, significantly surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.32, alongside a 38.1% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 39.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,600 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 4,163 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming's holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MC. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted 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 acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 1,460.8% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 796 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter worth $107,000. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:MC traded down $0.89 on Tuesday, reaching $71.22. 281,599 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 914,718. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04 and a beta of 1.72. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $47.00 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $69.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.38.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $365.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 38.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued 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 dividend yield of 3.7%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $189,639.80. Following the transaction, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $9,515.84. This represents a 97.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

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.