Edgestream Partners L.P. Invests $2.78 Million in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 37,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,784,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,509,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.3% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 4,464 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other news, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $260,110.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 3,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,116. This represents a 47.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $94,868.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE MC opened at $61.86 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.05. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $46.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.15 and a beta of 1.43.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. 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. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

About Moelis & Company

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.