Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 223,422 Shares of Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its position in Moelis & Company by 2.6%, selling 223,422 shares and now holds 8,509,013 shares (about 10.86% of the company) valued at roughly $584.9M.
• Moelis missed quarterly EPS ($0.50 vs. $0.59 consensus) and slightly missed revenue, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 (annualized $2.60, yield 4.2%) with a high payout ratio of 93.5%.
• Wall Street views are mixed: the stock has an average rating of Hold with a consensus price target of $71.89 after several recent target cuts and downgrades.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,509,013 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 223,422 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.86% of Moelis & Company worth $584,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 89.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 153.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 89.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total transaction of $172,065.95. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $309,967.63. This represents a 35.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MC has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.89.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE:MC opened at $62.37 on Tuesday. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $51.06 and a 1-year high of $78.22. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $59.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.70. The company has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.87.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.09). Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 38.94%. The firm had revenue of $319.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $321.51 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is 93.53%.

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. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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