Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Stock Holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 35.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,043 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,756 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,031,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,722 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 5,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $418,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 6,471 shares in the company, valued at $478,854. The trade was a 46.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $94,868.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 in the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MC. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 1.4 %

Moelis & Company stock opened at $69.58 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $46.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.54 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.86.

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

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

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.