Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $1.71 Million in Moelis & Company $MC

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 24,803 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,705,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MC. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 16.1% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,304,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $235,654,000 after purchasing an additional 458,575 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,862,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $178,381,000 after purchasing an additional 89,143 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,396,230 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $149,333,000 after purchasing an additional 135,885 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,385,692 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,253,000 after purchasing an additional 129,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,111,459 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $79,273,000 after acquiring an additional 70,864 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of MC stock opened at $65.90 on Thursday. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.06 and a fifty-two week high of $78.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.70, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.87.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.09). Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 38.94%. The company had revenue of $319.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.89.

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. 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.