Aviva PLC Increases Holdings in Moelis & Company $MC

Aviva PLC grew its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,373 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MC. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the first quarter worth $50,000. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter worth about $107,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $124,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 10.1% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MC. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered Moelis & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,109 shares in the company, valued at $515,544.68. The trade was a 26.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $62.99 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.87. The company has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 1.80. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $47.00 and a 1-year high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $356.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.14 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 47.11%. Moelis & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.96%.

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.