Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Shares in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 14,039 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,037,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $61,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MC traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $60.95. 815,680 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 765,354. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63 and a beta of 1.66. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $47.00 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The firm's fifty day moving average is $55.63 and its 200-day moving average is $67.69.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.07. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $306.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $309.67 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 41.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.27%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at $90,798. This represents a 51.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $260,110.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,116. This trade represents a 47.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on MC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.83.

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.