Royce & Associates LP Lowers Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,810 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 25,678 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.12% of Moelis & Company worth $6,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,433,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $2,784,000. 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 acquiring an additional 12,632 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $9,149,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 129.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,845 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 7,819 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.93. 5,740,359 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 623,863. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.50 and a 200-day moving average of $71.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.62 and a beta of 1.43.

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Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. As a group, analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is presently 147.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,798. The trade was a 51.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $260,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,116. This trade represents a 47.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.83.

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.