Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires 16,563 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 262.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,865 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 16,563 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $1,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $1,835,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,079 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $489,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Finally, Hilton Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 33,357 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,464,000 after purchasing an additional 9,940 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other Moelis & Company news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,762. This represents a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the firm’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 $718,688.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,483,390. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of MC opened at $63.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.81 and a beta of 1.43. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $46.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.35 and its 200-day moving average is $71.56.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Moelis & Company’s dividend 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.