Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Has Average Price Target of $73.62 According to Analysts

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.57.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC stock opened at $56.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.91. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.72. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $51.06 and a 1 year high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.27 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 14.50%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.59%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total value of $336,105.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,078.30. This represents a 97.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.06, for a total value of $129,901.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,633 shares in the company, valued at $527,134.98. This trade represents a 19.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 6.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $109,065,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,919,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,529,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $21,701,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,742,624 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $213,330,000 after purchasing an additional 310,001 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) is an independent global investment bank that provides strategic and financial advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, governments and other institutions. The firm advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, restructurings, liability management, capital raising and other complex financial transactions.

Moelis & Company serves clients across a range of industries, including technology, media and telecommunications; consumer and retail; energy and infrastructure; financial services; healthcare; industrials; and real estate.