Analysts Set Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) PT at $73.62

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.6250.

A number of research firms recently commented on MC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.06, for a total value of $129,901.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,134.98. This trade represents a 19.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Osamu Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total transaction of $336,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,078.30. This trade represents a 97.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 6.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Madison Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,773,735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $101,103,000 after acquiring an additional 555,557 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 541.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 16,651 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,385,692 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,253,000 after purchasing an additional 129,368 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,019,832 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $70,103,000 after purchasing an additional 100,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 24.7% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 87,887 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 17,411 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC stock opened at $64.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.84. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $51.06 and a 1-year high of $78.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.36 and a 200 day moving average of $64.49.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 14.50%.The firm had revenue of $409.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $387.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is 90.59%.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company (NYSE: MC) is a global independent investment bank that provides strategic financial advisory services to corporations, governments, financial sponsors and other institutions. The firm advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, restructurings, capital raising and other complex financial transactions.

Founded in 2007 by Ken Moelis, the company operates through a network of offices serving clients across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.