Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Position Decreased by Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC

Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lowered its position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 260,045 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 42,962 shares during the quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC owned 0.35% of Moelis & Company worth $19,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Moelis & Company Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE:MC traded up $1.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.76. The stock had a trading volume of 423,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,828. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98 and a beta of 1.53. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the company's 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 $718,688.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,940 shares of the company's stock, valued at $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company insiders.

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.