Virtu Financial LLC Takes $633,000 Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,242 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $633,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MC. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,190,221 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $408,836,000 after buying an additional 47,365 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,316 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $108,973,000 after purchasing an additional 10,698 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 922,920 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $63,229,000 after buying an additional 16,830 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 804,860 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $55,141,000 after buying an additional 96,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 755,541 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $42,960,000 after buying an additional 29,532 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 1.6 %

MC traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.93. The company had a trading volume of 346,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,383. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $72.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.67. The company has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.49 and a beta of 1.37. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $46.24 and a 52 week high of $81.60.

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

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 452.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MC shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

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.