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

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Reduce" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.83.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MC shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC stock traded down $3.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $55.86. 1,050,800 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 787,430. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.74 and a beta of 1.64. The stock's fifty day moving average is $55.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.46.

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

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is 119.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 31,136 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,300,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 195,814 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $14,467,000 after buying an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.