Norges Bank Makes New $52.61 Million Investment in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 712,101 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $52,610,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.95% of Moelis & Company at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Princeton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,000. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 172.4% in the 4th quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 72,599 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,364,000 after buying an additional 45,945 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,147,315 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $601,924,000 after buying an additional 99,766 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 57,774 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,268,000 after buying an additional 7,213 shares during the period. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $362,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.50.

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Moelis & Company Price Performance

Moelis & Company stock traded up $5.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,397,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 719,126. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $46.08 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84 and a beta of 1.53. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $66.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.62.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.79%. 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 147.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $501,762. This represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $718,688.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

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.