Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Holdings Trimmed by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 594,467 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 210,393 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.79% of Moelis & Company worth $43,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hilton Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 33,357 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,464,000 after buying an additional 9,940 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $86,062,000. Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $820,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 138,400 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.83.

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Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $94,868.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,798. The trade was a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 over the last quarter. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $60.56. The stock had a trading volume of 860,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 611,748. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $71.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.60. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.