Truist Financial Corp Reduces Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,376 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 401 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MC. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,433,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 13.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 804,860 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,141,000 after purchasing an additional 96,720 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,149,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 129.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 7,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 1.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 922,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $63,229,000 after purchasing an additional 16,830 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE MC opened at $68.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89.

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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $94,868.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,798. The trade was a 51.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,762. The trade was a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

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.