Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires 141,221 Shares of Moelis & Company $MC

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 491,470 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 141,221 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $35,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 89.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 89.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 103.0% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 544 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 44.0% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 599 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the third quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.33.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 2.1%

MC stock opened at $58.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.17. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $47.00 and a twelve month high of $78.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.90.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $487.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.17 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 41.67%. Moelis & Company’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the company’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 transaction, the general counsel owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,967.63. This 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 the SEC website. 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. 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.