Walleye Capital LLC Acquires 34,504 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Walleye Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 4,112.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 35,343 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 34,504 shares during the quarter. Walleye Capital LLC's holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $2,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 7,679 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,316 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $108,973,000 after buying an additional 10,698 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth $633,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 2.2% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,166 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 12,214 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target 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. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MC traded up $2.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.48. The stock had a trading volume of 251,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 974,970. The company has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.39 and a beta of 1.53. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $46.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $60.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.32.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is 147.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moelis & Company news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the business'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 value of $718,688.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 over the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by 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.