Fisher Asset Management LLC Purchases 158,200 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 252.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 220,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 158,200 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.29% of Moelis & Company worth $16,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth $10,158,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 13,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 15,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth $146,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,405 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 3.6 %

Moelis & Company stock opened at $68.13 on Tuesday. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $46.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.05. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 38.71 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MC. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,798. The trade was a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,762. This represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.