The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Price

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its price objective decreased by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $70.00 to $62.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.31% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.56.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $56.21 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.57. The company has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.87. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $47.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.37. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The firm had revenue of $487.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. Moelis & Company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total transaction of $172,065.95. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,967.63. This represents a 35.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 89.8% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 153.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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. 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.