Wasatch Advisors LP Raises Stake in Moelis & Company $MC

Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,742,624 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 310,001 shares during the quarter. Moelis & Company comprises approximately 1.4% of Wasatch Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 4.82% of Moelis & Company worth $213,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MC. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.1% during the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,339 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the first quarter worth about $1,870,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $485,000. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Moelis & Company by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,861 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,865,000 after acquiring an additional 2,571 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $64.79 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $51.06 and a 52 week high of $78.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.01. The company has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.85.

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

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Moelis & Company from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.89.

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.