Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 651,190 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 40,640 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.87% of Moelis & Company worth $48,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $9,149,000. Pier Capital LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth $8,152,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth $6,970,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 13.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 322.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 98,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,714,000 after purchasing an additional 74,800 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of Moelis & Company stock opened at $64.26 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.08. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.51 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. On average, research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,762. The trade was a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.83.

Moelis & 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.