Brokerages Set Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Target Price at $50.80

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) have received an average rating of “Reduce” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.80.

Several research analysts have issued reports on MC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Moelis & Company from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Moelis & Company from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In related news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.59, for a total transaction of $55,733.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 128,277 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total transaction of $6,747,370.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 161,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,511,206. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.59, for a total transaction of $55,733.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 375,185 shares of company stock worth $20,130,225. Insiders own 6.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 380.1% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 230.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,539 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MC opened at $51.27 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $33.87 and a 1-year high of $58.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $54.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -142.42 and a beta of 1.35.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The asset manager reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $214.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.98 million. Moelis & Company had a negative return on equity of 3.82% and a negative net margin of 2.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently -666.67%.

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.