Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 344,467 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,097 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $25,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,149,000. Pier Capital LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,152,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,970,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 804,860 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,141,000 after buying an additional 96,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 322.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 98,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,714,000 after acquiring an additional 74,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE MC opened at $71.37 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $46.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share 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 anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Insider Activity

In other Moelis & Company news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 5,661 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $418,914.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 6,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $478,854. This trade represents a 46.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 over the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.