Natixis Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 594,467 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 210,393 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $43,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,855,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 252.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 220,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $16,310,000 after buying an additional 158,200 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,158,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,149,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE MC opened at $59.61 on Monday. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.78.

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 return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. As a group, analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.36%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $718,688.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,483,390. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,798. The trade was a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

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.