Axiom Investors LLC DE Increases Stock Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 52.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 283,193 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,241 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned approximately 0.38% of Moelis & Company worth $20,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,784,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 935,552 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $69,119,000 after purchasing an additional 12,632 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $9,149,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 129.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 7,819 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $412,000. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Moelis & Company news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,798. This trade represents a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $260,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 3,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,116. This trade represents a 47.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.83.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of MC stock opened at $57.88 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89 and a beta of 1.43. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $46.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $70.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.48.

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

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is 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.