Kenneth Shropshire Sells 2,551 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares in the company, valued at $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of MC stock opened at $71.37 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.66. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $46.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is presently 147.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 372,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,549,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 30.6% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,017,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by 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.