Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Short Interest Down 27.1% in July

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,910,000 shares, adeclineof27.1% from the July 15th total of 3,990,000 shares. Approximately4.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 869,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 869,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately4.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of Moelis & Company stock opened at $72.6020 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58 and a beta of 1.70. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $47.00 and a twelve month high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $365.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 38.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total value of $460,537.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $9,515.84. The trade was a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MC. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company during the second quarter valued at $7,862,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the second quarter worth about $552,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 13,682.9% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,302 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 11,220 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 300.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 5,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 4,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 252,940 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,763,000 after acquiring an additional 29,122 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Moelis & Company from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

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.