Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,728 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,787,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $351,449,000 after purchasing an additional 28,446 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.7% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,279,209 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $328,511,000 after purchasing an additional 49,291 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 3.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,111,200 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,144,000 after purchasing an additional 34,740 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 32.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 927,705 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $41,867,000 after purchasing an additional 228,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 792,729 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,776,000 after purchasing an additional 42,424 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on MC shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Moelis & Company from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.80.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE:MC opened at $54.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.49. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $33.87 and a 52-week high of $58.67.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The asset manager reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.05. Moelis & Company had a negative return on equity of 3.82% and a negative net margin of 2.89%. The business had revenue of $214.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Moelis & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently -666.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 7,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total value of $404,231.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $315,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 7,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total value of $404,231.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $315,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.59, for a total value of $55,733.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 375,185 shares of company stock valued at $20,130,225. Company insiders own 6.96% of the company’s stock.

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.