Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $73.3750.

MC has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 381,458 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,221,000 after buying an additional 26,800 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,718,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,019,832 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $70,103,000 after acquiring an additional 100,956 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 714.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 182,147 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,521,000 after acquiring an additional 159,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,385,692 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,253,000 after acquiring an additional 129,368 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $69.22 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $51.06 and a 52-week high of $78.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.68. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.85.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.09). Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 38.94%. The firm had revenue of $319.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.53%.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

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. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.