Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on MC. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

MC opened at $71.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.58. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $46.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 147.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $260,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,934 shares in the company, valued at $291,116. This trade represents a 47.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is 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.