Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

MC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Moelis & Company from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Moelis & Company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.89.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE:MC opened at $63.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.64. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $51.06 and a 1 year high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $319.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.51 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.94% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $172,065.95. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,967.63. This represents a 35.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MC. Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the third quarter worth about $6,105,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 962,778 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,665,000 after purchasing an additional 17,220 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 381,458 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,221,000 after purchasing an additional 26,800 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 354.1% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 42,789 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,052,000 after acquiring an additional 33,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 23.3% during the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 240,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,174,000 after acquiring an additional 45,458 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

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.