Pier Capital LLC Has $7.96 Million Stock Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Pier Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,741 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 11,248 shares during the quarter. Pier Capital LLC owned 0.14% of Moelis & Company worth $7,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $86,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,855,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 252.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 220,770 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $16,310,000 after purchasing an additional 158,200 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,158,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,149,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 5,661 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $418,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 6,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at $478,854. The trade was a 46.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

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Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

MC stock traded down $1.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $57.88. 705,590 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 695,172. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.89 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.42.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. Equities research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is presently 147.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average 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.