Aquatic Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,661 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,139 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $1,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MC. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $86,062,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,610,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,720,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 252.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 220,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $16,310,000 after acquiring an additional 158,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 0.9 %

MC stock opened at $53.29 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28 and a beta of 1.53. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $47.00 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89.

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

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 over the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.