Insider Selling: Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) General Counsel Sells 4,850 Shares of Stock

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) General Counsel Osamu Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of Moelis & Company 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 $9,078.30. The trade was a 97.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.3%

Moelis & Company stock traded down $2.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $67.14. The company had a trading volume of 708,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,105,749. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $51.06 and a 12 month high of $78.22. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.11.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $387.27 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 14.50%.The company’s revenue 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 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.62.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MC. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Moelis & Company by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Moelis & Company by 153.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 292.2% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 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. 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.