Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) from an underweight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $68.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior price target of $42.00.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on MC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.17.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $61.75 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $56.48 and its 200 day moving average is $64.49. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $47.00 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 1.64.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $306.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.67 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 40.89% and a net margin of 13.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 41.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is 119.27%.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the fourth 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 position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 644 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 1,460.8% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the first quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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.