Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target to $89.00

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $69.00 to $89.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the asset manager's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.00.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC stock traded up $1.56 on Monday, hitting $71.09. 757,147 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 811,584. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $47.00 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.36 and a 200 day moving average of $63.66.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.07. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 40.89% and a net margin of 13.22%. The business had revenue of $306.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $309.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 41.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is 119.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 148.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,927 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 3,432 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 138,400 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Co operates as a holding company. It engages in the provision of financial advisory, capital raising and asset management services to a client base including corporations, governments, sovereign wealth funds and financial sponsors. The firm focuses on clients including large public multinational corporations, middle market private companies, financial sponsors, entrepreneurs and governments.