Strs Ohio Takes 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 purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 20,400 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,191,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,305,688 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $484,720,000 after purchasing an additional 158,373 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $171,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,747 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $137,548,000 after purchasing an additional 579,529 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,260,345 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $131,914,000 after purchasing an additional 95,114 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,264,200 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $73,779,000 after purchasing an additional 99,313 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MC traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.11. 1,718,851 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 894,694. The company has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.36 and a beta of 1.72. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $71.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.62. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $47.00 and a 1-year high of $82.89.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.21. The business 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%. The firm's revenue was up 38.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at $515,544.68. This trade represents a 26.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of Moelis & Company 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 $9,515.84. This represents a 97.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.