Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $64.17.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 0.4%

MC traded down $0.26 during trading on Monday, hitting $65.54. 739,304 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 806,338. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $47.00 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06 and a beta of 1.64.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $306.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.67 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 40.89%. Moelis & Company's revenue for the quarter was up 41.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is 119.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 368.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 935,552 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $69,119,000 after acquiring an additional 12,632 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 85,865 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,344,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,158,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company's stock.

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.