Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Has Average Price Target of $71.00 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Moelis & Company, with six hold ratings and two buys; the average 12-month price target is $71.00.
• Shares opened at $54.52, near the company’s 12-month low of $51.06 and below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The stock offers a $0.65 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 4.8% yield.
• Moelis exceeded quarterly expectations with earnings of $0.63 per share and revenue of $409.39 million, while insiders recently sold shares and institutional investors own 91.53% of the company.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.00.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MC. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $85.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $129,901.86. Following 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $9,078.30. This trade represents a 97.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 6.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MC. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $31,529,000. Madison Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,773,735 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $101,103,000 after acquiring an additional 555,557 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 541.5% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,726 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,364,000 after buying an additional 16,651 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 503,899 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,984,000 after buying an additional 91,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Moelis & Company by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 87,887 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 17,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $54.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.64. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 3.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 90.59%.

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. 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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