Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods have reduced their price target for Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $80.00, while still maintaining an "outperform" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 22.51% from the current price.
• Moelis & Company saw its stock increase by 3.5%, reaching $65.30, with a market capitalization of $5.13 billion and a P/E ratio of 25.71.
• Institutional investors own 91.53% of Moelis & Company's stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the asset manager.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $89.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a "moderate buy" rating on the asset manager's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price indicates a potential upside of 21.65% from the stock's current price.

MC has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Moelis & Company in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Moelis & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.86.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of MC opened at $65.76 on Monday. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $47.00 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The stock's 50 day moving average is $71.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.72. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total transaction of $460,537.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,515.84. This trade represents a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $189,639.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $515,544.68. The trade was a 26.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 89.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the first quarter valued at $50,000. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the second quarter valued at $51,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the second quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Moelis & Company by 38.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

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.