Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America started coverage on shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) in a research report report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $81.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Moelis & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $74.07 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.85. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $47.00 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.91.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $356.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.14 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 45.62% and a net margin of 15.98%.The firm’s revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 86.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 89.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 153.9% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,811.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 516 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.