Norges Bank Makes New $52.61 Million Investment in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 712,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $52,610,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth $61,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Moelis & Company by 368.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:MC opened at $50.46 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $67.95 and its 200 day moving average is $71.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 1.43. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $46.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89.

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

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MC. StockNews.com cut shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley restated 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, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at $501,762. The trade was a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 209,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,483,390. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company 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.