Moelis & Company $MC Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 1.9%, owning approximately 8.3 million shares, which constitutes about 10.58% of the company.
• Moelis & Company reported a significant rise in quarterly revenue to $365.38 million, surpassing analyst estimates, while posting earnings per share of $0.53.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with a total annualized dividend yield of 3.6%.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,305,688 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 158,373 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.58% of Moelis & Company worth $484,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $107,000. Argent Trust Co boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 12,997 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,847 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Moelis & Company by 3.5% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 615,169 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $35,901,000 after purchasing an additional 20,702 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 3,395.4% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 29,851 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 28,997 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 0.5%

MC stock traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $71.71. 198,989 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 934,680. The company has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23 and a beta of 1.70. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $47.00 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.85.

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

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the firm'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 in the company, valued at $9,515.84. This trade represents a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.