Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $22.84 Million Stock Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 333,370 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 16,322 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.44% of Moelis & Company worth $22,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 63.5% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 497 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 115.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 995 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,000. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC traded up $0.57 on Thursday, reaching $75.41. 311,568 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 627,473. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 142.28 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50 day moving average is $73.30 and its 200-day moving average is $66.71. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.24 and a fifty-two week high of $81.60.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $273.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.58 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 4.22%. Moelis & Company's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.15) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 452.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Moelis & Company from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $71.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $92.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.83.

About Moelis & Company

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.