Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Raised to Neutral at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group upgraded Moelis & Company from “sell” to “neutral” and set a $59 price target, implying approximately 5.23% upside from the stock’s current price.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Moelis has an overall consensus rating of “Hold,” with two Buy ratings and seven Hold ratings, and an average price target of $73.43.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.63 in EPS versus $0.62 forecast and revenue of $409.39 million versus $387.27 million expected; revenue increased 12% year over year.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $59.00 price target on the asset manager's stock. UBS Group's price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.23% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.43.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE MC opened at $56.07 on Wednesday. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.06 and a fifty-two week high of $78.22. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.41 and a 200-day moving average of $64.72.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $387.27 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 14.50%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.06, for a total transaction of $129,901.86. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,633 shares in the company, valued at $527,134.98. This represents a 19.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total transaction of $336,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $9,078.30. This represents a 97.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 6.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the first quarter valued at $51,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 44.3% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,183 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the second quarter valued at $88,000. 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. The firm advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, restructurings, liability management, capital raising and other complex financial transactions.

Moelis & Company serves clients across a range of industries, including technology, media and telecommunications; consumer and retail; energy and infrastructure; financial services; healthcare; industrials; and real estate.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.