Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 8.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 27,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,619 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $1,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 179.2% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 708,140 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,265,000 after purchasing an additional 454,478 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 4.9% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $5,062,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 246,655 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,113,000 after buying an additional 71,372 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter worth $3,630,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total transaction of $365,561.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,922.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 86 shares in the company, valued at $5,922.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 495 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.29, for a total value of $34,298.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,385.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Moelis & Company from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Moelis & Company stock opened at $65.89 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $39.08 and a fifty-two week high of $72.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.69. The stock has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 439.27 and a beta of 1.33.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $273.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $273.58 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 4.38% and a net margin of 1.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.15) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,600.00%.

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.