Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Price Target Cut by Morgan Stanley

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $77.00 to $73.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 26.58% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings cut Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.17.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Moelis & Company stock traded up $0.75 during trading on Monday, reaching $57.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 387,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,049,194. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.68. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $51.06 and a 52 week high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The asset manager reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business had revenue of $425.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $434.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Moelis & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moelis & Company news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.06, for a total transaction of $129,901.86. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,633 shares in the company, valued at $527,134.98. This represents a 19.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $109,065,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Moelis & Company by 5.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $72,825,000 after purchasing an additional 61,130 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Moelis & Company by 0.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,046,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $60,167,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 693,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,547,000 after purchasing an additional 6,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 43.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 649,724 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,035,000 after purchasing an additional 195,752 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company is an independent investment bank that provides strategic and financial advice to corporations, governments, financial sponsors and investors. Its advisory work includes mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, recapitalizations, liability management and other complex financial matters.

Founded in 2007 by investment banker Kenneth Moelis, the firm has expanded from its U.S. base to serve clients through offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Its teams advise clients on transactions and strategic decisions across a range of industries.

Kenneth Moelis is the company’s founder and has served as its chairman and chief executive officer.