Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.6250.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $69.12 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.40. The company has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.84. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.06 and a fifty-two week high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $409.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $387.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.59%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total value of $336,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $9,078.30. This trade represents a 97.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.06, for a total transaction of $129,901.86. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,134.98. The trade was a 19.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 6.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 42,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $264,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 37.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,828 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 11,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 14.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,639 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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.