Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Takes Position in Moelis & Company $MC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 29,635 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,037,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 1,161.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 661,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $41,231,000 after buying an additional 609,162 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,304,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $235,654,000 after acquiring an additional 458,575 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 681,668 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $48,617,000 after acquiring an additional 227,232 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,256,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $89,601,000 after acquiring an additional 196,030 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 714.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 182,147 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,521,000 after purchasing an additional 159,779 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE MC opened at $66.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.42. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $51.06 and a 1-year high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MC. Zacks Research downgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.89.

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. 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.