Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target Lowered to $59.00 at UBS Group

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its target price decreased by UBS Group from $74.00 to $59.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.44.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 6.7%

Shares of Moelis & Company stock opened at $51.32 on Thursday. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $47.00 and a 12 month high of $78.22. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.45.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.37. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 15.36%.The company had revenue of $487.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $172,065.95. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,967.63. This trade represents a 35.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MC. Impact Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.4% in the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,988 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 8,889 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 3,433 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.