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

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

MC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Moelis & Company in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 0.2%

MC opened at $76.87 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.79. 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 $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.85.

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

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 86.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,762,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,161.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 661,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $41,231,000 after acquiring an additional 609,162 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the second quarter valued at about $31,248,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Moelis & Company by 16.1% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,304,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $235,654,000 after purchasing an additional 458,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Moelis & Company by 26.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,052,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $127,947,000 after purchasing an additional 424,138 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.