Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 34,578 Shares of Moelis & Company $MC

Fisher Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 456,892 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 34,578 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $31,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Moelis & Company by 3,278.1% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 60,908 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,187,000 after buying an additional 59,105 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Moelis & Company by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,705,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Moelis & Company by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $872,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on Moelis & Company from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.89.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $66.07 on Wednesday. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $51.06 and a 1-year high of $78.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.77, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.96 and its 200-day moving average is $65.38.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.09). Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.94% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm had revenue of $319.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Moelis & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.53%.

About Moelis & Company

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. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.