Wealthfront Advisers LLC Invests $2.62 Million in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 35,444 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,619,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MC. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,927 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 3,432 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. Capital Management Corp VA boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 181,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,379,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,784,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 549.7% in the 4th quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 19,808 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 16,759 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.83.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

MC opened at $59.61 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $72.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.72. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $46.24 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87 and a beta of 1.43.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. Equities analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

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

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.