Wasatch Advisors LP Has $194.49 Million Stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Wasatch Advisors LP decreased its position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,632,536 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 215,537 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 3.51% of Moelis & Company worth $194,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Moelis & Company Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE:MC traded down $2.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $49.28. The stock had a trading volume of 168,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 727,086. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $46.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.58.

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

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at $90,798. This trade represents a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $718,688.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,483,390. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MC shares. StockNews.com lowered Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Moelis & Company from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.50.

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.