Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) COO Sells $260,110.00 in Stock

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $260,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 3,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,116. This represents a 47.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of MC stock opened at $71.37 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $46.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.66. The company has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. On average, research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 147.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,147,315 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $601,924,000 after acquiring an additional 99,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,316 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $108,973,000 after buying an additional 10,698 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $86,062,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 935,552 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $69,119,000 after buying an additional 12,632 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 860,125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $63,546,000 after acquiring an additional 36,736 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.