Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stake in Moelis & Company $MC

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 714.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 182,147 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 159,779 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.23% of Moelis & Company worth $12,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MC. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 9.9% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 42,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,839 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the first quarter worth about $264,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 37.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,828 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 11,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 14.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,639 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE MC opened at $54.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.90. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $47.00 and a one year high of $78.22. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.06.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,967.63. The trade was a 35.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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 decreased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.44.

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. 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.