JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan lowered Moelis & Company’s price target from $70 to $68 while maintaining a neutral rating, implying roughly 21% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $68.83, despite some recent rating upgrades from other firms.
• Moelis reported quarterly earnings of $0.63 per share, slightly above estimates, while revenue rose 12% year over year to $409.39 million. Shares traded at $56.19, below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the asset manager's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price would indicate a potential upside of 21.03% from the stock's previous close.

MC has been the topic of several other research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. UBS Group raised Moelis & Company from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

MC traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $56.19. The stock had a trading volume of 431,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,041,883. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.95 and a 200 day moving average of $64.42. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $51.06 and a 1 year high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $409.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $387.27 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 39.59%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.06, for a total value of $129,901.86. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,134.98. This represents a 19.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total value of $336,105.00. Following 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 6.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 11.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,489 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,690 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 95,168 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,425,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,709 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 292.2% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company NYSE: MC is an independent global investment bank that provides strategic and financial advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, governments and other institutions. Its advisory platform focuses on mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, restructurings, capital raising and other complex corporate finance matters.

The firm advises clients across a range of industries, including technology, media and telecommunications; financial services; consumer and retail; energy and infrastructure; healthcare; and industrials.

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