Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target Raised to $90.00

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $74.00 to $90.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $73.24 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.72 and a 200 day moving average of $62.39. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83 and a beta of 1.72. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $47.00 and a 12 month high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.21. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 42.72% and a net margin of 14.31%.The company had revenue of $365.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 38.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.36%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $515,544.68. This trade represents a 26.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total transaction of $460,537.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,515.84. The trade was a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 13,817 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $861,000 after acquiring an additional 2,705 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 48,356 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,014,000 after acquiring an additional 7,223 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 251.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 40,808 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,543,000 after acquiring an additional 29,185 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 54,548 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,399,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Moelis & Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,862,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.