Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 2,100 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 108.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,043 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 63.5% in 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 115.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 995 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,465 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

MC opened at $80.50 on Thursday. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $40.88 and a 1 year high of $80.61. The company has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 151.89 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.64.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The company had revenue of $273.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.15) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is presently 452.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MC. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.83.

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.