The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Price

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs lowered its price target for Moelis & Company from $71 to $62 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying about 8.5% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans toward “Hold”: the stock has an average price target of $73.62, with two Buy ratings, seven Holds, and one Sell.
• MC shares fell 0.7% to $57.12, despite Moelis exceeding quarterly earnings and revenue estimates; revenue increased 12% year over year.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $71.00 to $62.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the asset manager's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target points to a potential upside of 8.54% from the company's previous close.

MC has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Moelis & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $60.00 price target (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.62.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of MC stock traded down $0.40 on Thursday, reaching $57.12. The stock had a trading volume of 437,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,034,659. The firm's 50-day moving average is $65.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.84. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $51.06 and a 12 month high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $409.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $387.27 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 14.50%.Moelis & Company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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 $9,078.30. The trade was a 97.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $527,134.98. This represents a 19.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 6.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 292.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 44.3% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,183 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

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.

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