Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Stake in Moelis & Company $MC

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 43.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 649,724 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 195,752 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.83% of Moelis & Company worth $37,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in Moelis & Company by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,742,624 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $213,330,000 after buying an additional 310,001 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,194,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $219,588,000 after purchasing an additional 66,697 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,862,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $178,381,000 after acquiring an additional 89,143 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 6.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,396,230 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $149,333,000 after purchasing an additional 135,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,876,472 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,989,000 after buying an additional 89,365 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE MC opened at $68.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.20. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $51.06 and a 52-week high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $409.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $387.27 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 39.59%. Moelis & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is presently 90.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.62.

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. 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.