Empowered Funds LLC Grows Stake in Moelis & Company $MC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 26.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 96,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 20,372 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $5,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,857,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,919,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,161.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 661,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $41,231,000 after buying an additional 609,162 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 45.6% during the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,773,735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $101,103,000 after buying an additional 555,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 16.1% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,304,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $235,654,000 after buying an additional 458,575 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE:MC opened at $67.08 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $51.06 and a 1 year high of $78.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.31. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.85.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $409.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $387.27 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.61% and a net margin of 14.50%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 90.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.62.

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. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.