Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 73.8% during Q1, acquiring an additional 40,907 shares for a total of 96,316 shares valued at approximately $5.6 million.
• Moelis & Company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.53, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.32, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 38.1%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with a payout ratio of 102.36%, expected to be paid on September 18th.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 73.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,316 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 40,907 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. owned about 0.12% of Moelis & Company worth $5,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 214.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,942,299 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $171,713,000 after acquiring an additional 2,006,747 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 215.5% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 723,384 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $53,444,000 after acquiring an additional 494,123 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 457.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 485,238 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,318,000 after acquiring an additional 398,129 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,855,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the first quarter worth approximately $19,561,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,515.84. This represents a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MC has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:MC traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $70.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 192,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 928,770. The business's 50-day moving average is $66.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.86. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81 and a beta of 1.70. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $82.89.

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

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

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

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.