Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Makes New $335,000 Investment in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,530 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,147,315 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $601,924,000 after acquiring an additional 99,766 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,062,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 935,552 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $69,119,000 after acquiring an additional 12,632 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 860,125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $63,546,000 after acquiring an additional 36,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 768,945 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $56,810,000 after acquiring an additional 53,473 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE:MC opened at $60.66 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.47 and a beta of 1.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $55.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.76. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $47.00 and a 1 year high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $306.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.67 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,798. This trade represents a 51.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88% 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 worth $1,677,017 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.83.

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.