Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 223,422 Shares of Moelis & Company $MC

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,509,013 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 223,422 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Moelis & Company worth $584,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MC. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 9.9% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 42,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,456,000 after buying an additional 1,839 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the first quarter worth approximately $264,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 37.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,828 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 11,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 14.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,639 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $172,065.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,967.63. This trade represents a 35.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE MC opened at $62.37 on Tuesday. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $51.06 and a 12 month high of $78.22. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.70.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $319.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.51 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 38.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. 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 4.2%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MC has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group dropped 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.89.

Moelis & 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.