Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $73.62 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts rate Moelis & Company “Hold” overall: Seven of ten covering firms recommend holding the stock, with two buys and one sell. The consensus 12-month price target is $73.62.
• Moelis reported quarterly EPS of $0.63, slightly above expectations, while revenue rose 12% year over year to $409.39 million. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, representing a 4.5% annualized yield.
• Insiders recently sold shares, while institutional investors increased their positions; institutions own 91.53% of the stock. Shares opened at $58.01, below the consensus target and the 50- and 200-day moving averages.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $73.62.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moelis & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total transaction of $336,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of Moelis & Company 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 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 6.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,742,624 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $213,330,000 after buying an additional 310,001 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,876,472 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $128,989,000 after purchasing an additional 89,365 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 45.6% in the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,773,735 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $101,103,000 after purchasing an additional 555,557 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,774 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $72,825,000 after buying an additional 61,130 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,019,832 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $70,103,000 after buying an additional 100,956 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:MC opened at $58.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.84. The business's 50 day moving average is $65.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.56. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $51.06 and a 52 week 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 14.50%.The business had revenue of $409.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $387.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 90.59%.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company NYSE: MC is a global independent investment bank that provides strategic financial advisory services to corporations, governments, financial sponsors and other institutions. The firm advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, restructurings, capital raising and other complex financial transactions.

Founded in 2007 by Ken Moelis, the company operates through a network of offices serving clients across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

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