Leavell Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 31,136 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,300,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,149,000. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC opened at $75.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 43.14 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. 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 dividend yield of 3.42%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is 136.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.83.

About Moelis & Company

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.