NewEdge Wealth LLC Reduces Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

NewEdge Wealth LLC lessened its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,741 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,819 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $3,675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Moelis & Company by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 47.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $130,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MC opened at $70.61 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.84. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $46.24 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12 and a beta of 1.40.

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 analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MC has been the topic of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 5,661 shares of the company’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 $418,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 6,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $478,854. This represents a 46.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $94,868.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

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.