Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) General Counsel Osamu Watanabe Sells 4,850 Shares

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) General Counsel Osamu Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total value of $336,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,078.30. This represents a 97.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of MC traded down $2.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $67.14. 708,533 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,105,749. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.11. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $51.06 and a 1 year high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $409.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.27 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 14.50%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.59%.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MC. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 153.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 292.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research raised Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.62.

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.