Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Shares Acquired by Axiom Investors LLC DE

Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 52.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 283,193 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 97,241 shares during the quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned about 0.38% of Moelis & Company worth $20,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,147,315 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $601,924,000 after acquiring an additional 99,766 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,316 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $108,973,000 after buying an additional 10,698 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $86,062,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 935,552 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $69,119,000 after acquiring an additional 12,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 768,945 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $56,810,000 after acquiring an additional 53,473 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE MC traded down $2.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.60. The company had a trading volume of 379,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 701,632. The firm's 50 day moving average is $68.50 and its 200 day moving average is $71.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.64 and a beta of 1.43. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 5.14%. This is an increase from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is 147.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MC. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $260,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $291,116. The trade was a 47.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

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.