Trexquant Investment LP Takes $4.62 Million Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 62,475 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,616,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,458 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the third quarter valued at $779,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 69.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 55,809 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,823,000 after purchasing an additional 22,963 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $316,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,833,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 4.7 %

MC stock opened at $50.46 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $46.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.95 and a 200-day moving average of $71.06.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

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

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.