Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) from an underweight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $92.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $66.00.

MC has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.17.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 0.8 %

Moelis & Company stock opened at $74.25 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $72.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.09 and a beta of 1.37. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $81.60.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 4.22%. The business had revenue of $273.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.15) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 452.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 42.9% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 51.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 135,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,699,000 after purchasing an additional 46,226 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 10,171 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 2.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 370,866 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $21,087,000 after buying an additional 7,198 shares during the period. Finally, &PARTNERS bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the second quarter valued at about $517,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

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.