Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Earns Hold (C) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)‘s stock had its “hold (c)” rating reissued by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.00.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of MC stock opened at $65.64 on Wednesday. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $47.00 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.61.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.21. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 42.72%. The company had revenue of $365.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 38.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $189,639.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $515,544.68. This trade represents a 26.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total transaction of $460,537.60. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $9,515.84. This represents a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 6,581 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 76,730 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,478,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 69,155 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,310,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,075 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,814 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.