HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 139,206 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 13.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 896,235 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 139,206 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 1.20% of Moelis & Company worth $61,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 51.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 135,399 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,699,000 after purchasing an additional 46,226 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 305,871 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $17,392,000 after acquiring an additional 47,176 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,433,000. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 274.4% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 16,524 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 12,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 804,860 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $55,141,000 after acquiring an additional 96,720 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Moelis & Company stock traded up $0.46 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $75.92. 567,338 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 629,764. The stock has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.25 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's fifty day moving average is $71.52 and its 200-day moving average is $64.83. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $46.24 and a 52 week high of $81.60.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 4.22%. The business had revenue of $273.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.58 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.15) EPS. Moelis & Company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 452.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Moelis & Company from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.83.

Moelis & 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.