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

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.6250.

A number of brokerages recently commented on MC. Zacks Research raised Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total transaction of $336,105.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $9,078.30. The trade was a 97.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 292.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 153.9% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE MC opened at $63.46 on Tuesday. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.06 and a fifty-two week high of $78.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.88. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.84.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 14.50%.The firm had revenue of $409.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.27 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.59%.

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.