Jennison Associates LLC Buys 186,193 Shares of Moelis & Company $MC

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 38.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 671,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 186,193 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $41,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the first quarter worth $50,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 38.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the first quarter worth $107,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the first quarter worth $124,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 10.1% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $515,544.68. This trade represents a 26.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of MC stock opened at $64.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.05. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $47.00 and a 52 week high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 47.11%. The business had revenue of $356.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. Moelis & Company’s revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research cut Moelis & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.57.

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.