Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 349,692 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,785 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of Moelis & Company worth $19,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MC. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 63.5% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 497 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 147.9% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 657 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 510.2% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 836 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of MC opened at $64.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of -340.26 and a beta of 1.34. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $38.58 and a 1-year high of $70.00.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $264.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.90 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 4.38% and a net margin of 1.38%. Moelis & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,263.16%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, CFO Joseph Simon sold 6,723 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total value of $430,272.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total transaction of $365,561.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,922.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joseph Simon sold 6,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total value of $430,272.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,526 shares of company stock worth $830,133. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Moelis & Company from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Moelis & Company Profile

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.