Moelis & Company $MC Shares Acquired by Aquatic Capital Management LLC

Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 111.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 99,199 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,229 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC owned about 0.13% of Moelis & Company worth $7,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MC. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 89.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 89.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 599 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, January 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.44.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 0.7%

MC stock opened at $51.73 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $67.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.24. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $78.22. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.90.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.37. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 15.36%.The company had revenue of $487.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total transaction of $172,065.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,967.63. This trade represents a 35.70% 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 owned by company insiders.

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.