Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $71.83.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 3.0 %

Moelis & Company stock opened at $57.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.89 and a beta of 1.43. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $46.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $70.16 and its 200 day moving average is $71.36.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. Sell-side analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 147.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,483,390. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MC. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by 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.