62,475 Shares in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Acquired by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 62,475 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $4,616,000. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.08% of Moelis & Company at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. 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 valued at $601,924,000 after acquiring an additional 99,766 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,316 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $108,973,000 after purchasing an additional 10,698 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $86,062,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 12,632 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 768,945 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $56,810,000 after buying an additional 53,473 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MC shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.50.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 7.0 %

Shares of Moelis & Company stock traded down $3.81 on Thursday, reaching $50.50. 278,135 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 717,487. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77 and a beta of 1.53. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. This is an increase from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.73%.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 represents a 47.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $90,798. This trade represents 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 valued at $1,677,017 in the last quarter. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.