State of Wyoming Increases Stock Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 526.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,437 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 8,770 shares during the period. State of Wyoming's holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MC. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Moelis & Company by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,976 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,213,000 after buying an additional 29,220 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth $256,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 439,778 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $32,491,000 after acquiring an additional 5,062 shares during the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 47.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of MC traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $56.53. 716,129 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 768,393. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $47.00 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12 and a beta of 1.66. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $55.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.52.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $306.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $309.67 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 41.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is 119.27%.

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.