Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Key Points

• Moelis reported Q1 EPS of $0.50, missing the consensus of $0.53 and down from $0.64 a year earlier, while revenue came in at about $320 million (up 4.3% YoY) but well below the $410.8 million analysts expected.
• The firm says transaction activity and its deal pipeline are at or near all-time highs and is rapidly scaling its Private Capital Advisory business, supporting diversification beyond traditional M&A.
• Moelis returned capital—repurchasing 1.9 million shares, declaring a $0.65 quarterly dividend and ending the quarter with $354 million cash and no debt—yet management warned of near-term headwinds from the Middle East, private credit disruptions and AI-driven repricing while non-compensation expenses rise due to continued investment.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The asset manager reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.03), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $319.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.83 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 15.36%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Moelis & Company's conference call:

• Moelis reported a record first-quarter revenue of $320 million and said its announced transaction activity and pipeline are at or near all-time highs, signaling strong deal flow potential for the rest of 2026.
• The firm is rapidly scaling its Private Capital Advisory business—adding dedicated hires (targeting seven senior bankers for GP-led and private credit secondaries)—and said PCA revenues grew year-over-year, supporting diversification beyond M&A.
• Moelis returned capital while keeping a strong balance sheet, repurchasing 1.9 million shares, declaring a $0.65 quarterly dividend, and ending the quarter with $354 million cash and no debt, having returned about $171 million in the period.
• Management flagged near-term headwinds from the war in the Middle East, disruptions in private credit, and AI-driven repricing in software, which are slowing some sponsor exits and could delay middle-market M&A activity.
• Adjusted pre-tax margin improved to 15% and the adjusted compensation ratio fell to 65.8%, but non-compensation expenses rose (deal-related costs, tech/AI investments) and the firm expects full-year non-comp expense growth as it continues investing in the business.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $67.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.87. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $51.06 and a 1 year high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is presently 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total transaction of $172,065.95. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $309,967.63. The trade was a 35.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MC. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 141.7% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,653 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 10,349 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Moelis & Company by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,962 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Moelis & Company by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 76,054 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,228,000 after purchasing an additional 10,635 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 31,056 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 159.3% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 207,885 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $14,290,000 after purchasing an additional 127,712 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Moelis & Company from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.89.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

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. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.