UBS Group Raises Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target to $50.00

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $47.00 to $50.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sell rating on the asset manager’s stock.

MC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Moelis & Company from a sell rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a market perform rating and set a $54.00 price objective (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

MC stock opened at $60.09 on Tuesday. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $38.58 and a 1-year high of $60.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $55.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.69.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.11. Moelis & Company had a negative return on equity of 0.12% and a negative net margin of 1.33%. The firm had revenue of $217.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is -1,263.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moelis & Company news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $2,159,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 42,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,965.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Navid Mahmoodzadegan sold 44,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.92, for a total value of $2,470,301.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $2,159,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 42,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,290,965.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 104.6% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 3,503 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 1.5% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 176,323 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,957,000 after buying an additional 2,579 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $99,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 18.4% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 11,596 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.