Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 13,734 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 38.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,271 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 13,734 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $1,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MC. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 115.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 995 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the third quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth about $130,000. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC stock traded down $2.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $78.77. 1,058,423 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 762,253. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $46.24 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.62 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's 50-day moving average is $75.51 and its 200-day moving average is $70.75.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 12.15%. Equities research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 452.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.83.

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.