Strs Ohio Takes $1.19 Million Position in Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company, purchasing 20,400 shares valued at roughly $1.19 million in the first quarter.
• Moelis & Company reported earnings of $0.53 per share for the recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.32, with a revenue of $365.38 million.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, representing an annual yield of 3.4%, with a payout ratio of 102.36%.

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,400 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,191,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 214.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,942,299 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $171,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,747 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 32.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,356,893 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $137,548,000 after purchasing an additional 579,529 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 457.0% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 485,238 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,318,000 after purchasing an additional 398,129 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 311.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 465,677 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $27,177,000 after purchasing an additional 352,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $19,561,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $515,544.68. This represents a 26.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total value of $460,537.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MC. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Zacks Research raised Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.67.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MC traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,718,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,165. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $47.00 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.36 and a beta of 1.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.70.

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

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 102.36%.

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.