Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $33.29 Million Stock Holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 47.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 585,475 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 524,177 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.78% of Moelis & Company worth $33,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 4.9% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,417,643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,020,000 after buying an additional 159,797 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Moelis & Company by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,374,385 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $189,404,000 after acquiring an additional 334,620 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399,649 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,562,000 after purchasing an additional 60,455 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in Moelis & Company by 5.2% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,118,245 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $63,483,000 after purchasing an additional 55,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 755,541 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $42,960,000 after purchasing an additional 29,532 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moelis & Company from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 495 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.29, for a total transaction of $34,298.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,385.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 495 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.29, for a total value of $34,298.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,385.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total value of $365,561.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,922.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,526 shares of company stock worth $830,133. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

MC stock opened at $70.17 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $38.58 and a 1 year high of $70.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of -369.32 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $65.13 and its 200-day moving average is $58.31.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $264.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.90 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 4.38% and a net margin of 1.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,263.16%.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.