Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MCGet Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.00.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Moelis & Company from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of MC opened at $70.05 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.49. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58 and a beta of 1.64.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MCGet Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 42.72% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $365.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total transaction of $460,537.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,515.84. This trade represents a 97.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 214.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,942,299 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $171,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,747 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $52,610,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Moelis & Company by 32.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,356,893 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $137,548,000 after buying an additional 579,529 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 215.5% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 723,384 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,444,000 after purchasing an additional 494,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 457.0% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 485,238 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,318,000 after buying an additional 398,129 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

About Moelis & Company

(Get Free Report

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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

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