Norges Bank Takes Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 712,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $52,610,000. Norges Bank owned 0.95% of Moelis & Company at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 368.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,798. The trade was a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

MC stock opened at $50.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $67.95 and its 200-day moving average is $71.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 1.43. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $46.24 and a 1 year high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. On average, analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is 147.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on MC shares. StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Moelis & Company 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.