Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research raised Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.62.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of MC opened at $67.08 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $51.06 and a 12 month high of $78.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.85.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 39.61%. The firm had revenue of $409.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MC. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 292.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 153.9% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. 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.