Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.83.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 3.6 %

MC stock opened at $68.13 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.05. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.71 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $46.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.73%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.