Hodges Capital Management Inc. Invests $9.15 Million in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 123,840 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $9,149,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned 0.17% of Moelis & Company as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Moelis & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 115.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 995 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the third quarter worth $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.83.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 2.0 %

MC stock traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $81.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,525,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 748,264. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $46.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 153.29 and a beta of 1.40. The business's 50 day moving average price is $75.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.67.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 4.22%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 452.83%.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.