Azora Capital LP Reduces Holdings in Moelis & Company $MC

Azora Capital LP reduced its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 70.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,470 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 526,888 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP owned about 0.29% of Moelis & Company worth $15,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MC. Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the third quarter worth about $6,105,000. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 962,778 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $68,665,000 after purchasing an additional 17,220 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 354,658 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $23,691,000 after purchasing an additional 17,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 354.1% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 42,789 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,052,000 after purchasing an additional 33,367 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MC opened at $51.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.90. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $47.00 and a twelve month high of $78.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.27.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.37. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 15.36%.The firm had revenue of $487.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.17 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $172,065.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,967.63. The trade was a 35.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.44.

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.