Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.83.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,420 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,509,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 2.4% during the first quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,567 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palisades Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.3% during the first quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 76,730 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,478,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Moelis & Company stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $56.51. 949,917 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 770,931. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $55.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.38. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $47.00 and a 1-year high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $306.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.67 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. Moelis & Company's revenue for the quarter was up 41.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.27%.

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.