Legato Capital Management LLC Has $1.18 Million Position in Moelis & Company $MC

Legato Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 199.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 11,043 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 79,851 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,695,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 40.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 491,470 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,052,000 after purchasing an additional 141,221 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 19.3% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 112,011 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,989,000 after purchasing an additional 18,142 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 93,764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,687,000 after acquiring an additional 4,575 shares during the period. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $364,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE MC opened at $58.41 on Wednesday. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $47.00 and a 1-year high of $78.22. The company has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.17.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.37. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The business had revenue of $487.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Moelis & Company’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total transaction of $172,065.95. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at $309,967.63. The trade was a 35.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.33.

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. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.