Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Given New $64.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its target price trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $80.00 to $64.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

MC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.67.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:MC opened at $61.39 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.01. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $78.22. The company has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.87.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $487.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total transaction of $172,065.95. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,967.63. This trade represents a 35.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,105,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 962,778 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $68,665,000 after acquiring an additional 17,220 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 381,458 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,221,000 after acquiring an additional 26,800 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 354.1% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 42,789 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,052,000 after acquiring an additional 33,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 240,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,174,000 after acquiring an additional 45,458 shares in the last quarter. 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.