Emerald Advisers LLC Sells 13,336 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Emerald Advisers LLC lessened its stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 426,994 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 13,336 shares during the period. Moelis & Company accounts for 1.2% of Emerald Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Emerald Advisers LLC owned about 0.57% of Moelis & Company worth $31,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,147,315 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $601,924,000 after buying an additional 99,766 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,316 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $108,973,000 after acquiring an additional 10,698 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $86,062,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 935,552 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $69,119,000 after purchasing an additional 12,632 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position 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 worth $56,810,000 after purchasing an additional 53,473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,762. The trade was a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MC shares. StockNews.com lowered Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.83.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of Moelis & Company stock traded down $1.91 on Thursday, hitting $59.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,320,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,089. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.55 and a 200-day moving average of $71.41. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $46.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.93 and a beta of 1.43.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 147.73%.

About Moelis & Company

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.