Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Earns Market Perform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued their market perform rating on shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $54.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $58.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MC. JMP Securities restated a market perform rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a sell rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $50.80.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

MC stock opened at $49.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.59. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $33.87 and a one year high of $58.67.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.11. Moelis & Company had a negative net margin of 1.33% and a negative return on equity of 0.13%. The firm had revenue of $217.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,263.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,040 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.59, for a total value of $55,733.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Moelis & Company news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 128,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total value of $6,747,370.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 161,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,511,206. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.59, for a total value of $55,733.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 375,185 shares of company stock worth $20,130,225. 6.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 147.9% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 657 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.