Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target Lowered to $70.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group lowered its price target on Moelis & Company from $80 to $70 and kept a "neutral" rating, with the $70 target implying roughly a 33.8% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst consensus remains a Hold (two Buys, ten Holds) with an average target of $77.11, even as several firms including Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan have recently raised their targets.
• Moelis & Company reported an earnings beat (EPS $1.13 vs. $0.76 expected) and revenue of $487.9M (vs. $430.2M expected), yet shares traded around $52.34, well below most analyst price targets.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the asset manager's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target points to a potential upside of 33.75% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.11.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of Moelis & Company stock traded down $2.67 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $52.34. The company had a trading volume of 731,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,113,411. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.90. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $47.00 and a one year high of $78.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.57.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.37. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 15.36%.The company had revenue of $487.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 2,765 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $172,065.95. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $309,967.63. This trade represents a 35.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $60,857,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the second quarter worth $46,762,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $42,919,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,161.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 661,594 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $41,231,000 after purchasing an additional 609,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,304,180 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $235,654,000 after purchasing an additional 458,575 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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