Vestcor Inc Makes New $292,000 Investment in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc has acquired 5,006 shares of Moelis & Company, valued at approximately $292,000, increasing institutional ownership of the firm to over 91.5%.
• Recent analyst upgrades include Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising the target price from $69.00 to $89.00 and Morgan Stanley upgrading their rating, reflecting positive sentiment towards Moelis & Company.
• The company reported earnings of $0.53 per share, exceeding expectations and showing a significant year-over-year revenue growth of 38.1% to $365.38 million.

Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,006 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 241.1% during the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 13,078 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 9,244 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $658,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,892,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $412,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,761 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,620,000 after buying an additional 7,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target 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 lifted their target price on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.00.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

MC stock traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.49. 140,996 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 944,414. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80 and a beta of 1.70. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.27.

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

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is presently 102.36%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total transaction of $460,537.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 131 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,515.84. The trade was a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

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.