Ciafone Katherine Pilcher Sells 3,515 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $260,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,116. This trade represents a 47.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

MC stock opened at $71.37 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $46.24 and a one year high of $82.89. The firm has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.66.

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

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the third quarter worth about $3,433,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Moelis & Company by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 804,860 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,141,000 after purchasing an additional 96,720 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,149,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 129.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 7,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 922,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $63,229,000 after buying an additional 16,830 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is currently 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.