Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 62,800 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 75.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 146,444 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 62,800 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.20% of Moelis & Company worth $10,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 148.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,483,390. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $90,798. This trade represents a 51.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC traded up $1.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $51.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,084,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,808. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.32.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. Equities analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is 147.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.50.

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.