Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

MC has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.83.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of MC opened at $71.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $46.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $75.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.74.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. Equities research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 19,960 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 7,697 shares in the last quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 76,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,654,000 after purchasing an additional 6,511 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 175,795 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,988,000 after purchasing an additional 30,592 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 39,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,926,000 after purchasing an additional 15,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,671 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 7,847 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is 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.