Analysts Set Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Target Price at $56.00

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.00.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Moelis & Company stock opened at $63.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.40. The company has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -332.89 and a beta of 1.34. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.58 and a fifty-two week high of $70.00.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.07. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 4.38%. The firm had revenue of $264.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 47.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is -1,263.16%.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total value of $365,561.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 86 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,922.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Moelis & Company news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 495 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.29, for a total transaction of $34,298.55. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,385.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total transaction of $365,561.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,922.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,526 shares of company stock valued at $830,133. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 63.5% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 497 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 147.9% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 657 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 510.2% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 836 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

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.