Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Passes Above 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) shares crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.24 and traded as high as $77.76. Moelis & Company shares last traded at $77.7240, with a volume of 675,383 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.00.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 0.2%

The firm has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $68.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.51.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $356.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.14 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 45.62% and a net margin of 15.98%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Impact Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.2% during the third quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,988 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Moelis & Company by 44.0% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 599 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Moelis & Company by 89.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 2.9% during the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 6,581 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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. 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.