Entropy Technologies LP Takes $412,000 Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,575 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $412,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the third quarter worth $49,017,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $9,149,000. Pier Capital LLC purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,152,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,970,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Moelis & Company by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 804,860 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $55,141,000 after purchasing an additional 96,720 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MC shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 0.2 %

MC traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.92. 490,206 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 671,840. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 43.14 and a beta of 1.40. The company's 50-day moving average is $75.66 and its 200 day moving average is $71.25. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $46.24 and a 52 week high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. This is a boost from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 136.36%.

Moelis & Company 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.