Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 75.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 148.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 368.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:MC opened at $51.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37 and a beta of 1.53. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $46.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.65.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.03%. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Moelis & Company from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares in the company, valued at $15,483,390. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $260,110.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,934 shares in the company, valued at $291,116. This represents a 47.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.