Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) General Counsel Sells $460,537.60 in Stock

Key Points

• Osamu R. Watanabe, General Counsel of Moelis & Company, sold 6,340 shares of the company's stock on July 25th at an average price of $72.64, resulting in a significant decrease in his ownership by 97.98%.
• Moelis & Company's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.53, surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.32, with a revenue increase of 38.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with a record date of August 4th, representing an annualized payout of $2.60 and a dividend yield of 3.66%.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total transaction of $460,537.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,515.84. This represents a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 2.5%

MC stock traded down $1.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.38. The company had a trading volume of 357,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 953,702. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $63.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92 and a beta of 1.64. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $47.00 and a one year high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $365.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.57 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 42.72% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm's revenue was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is 102.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MC shares. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 644 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,460.8% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 796 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.