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

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

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

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC stock opened at $69.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 39.54 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $46.24 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.86.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on MC shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.83.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,762. This represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 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 value of $94,868.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,798. The trade was a 51.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.