Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Shares Pass Above Fifty Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) crossed above its 50‑day moving average, trading around $67.19 versus a 50‑day MA of $59.87 and a 200‑day MA of $65.71, suggesting short‑term technical strength.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed-to-neutral with a consensus "Hold" (10 Holds, 2 Buys) and an average price target of $71.89, while several brokers (Goldman, KBW, UBS) have recently cut targets and Bank of America initiated neutral at $81.
• Fundamentals show a solid quarter—$1.13 EPS vs $0.76 expected and $487.9M revenue vs $430.2M—with a 41.7% ROE, and the company pays a $0.65 quarterly dividend (3.9% yield) but with a high ~88% payout ratio.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.87 and traded as high as $67.59. Moelis & Company shares last traded at $67.1860, with a volume of 1,176,176 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.89.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 1.0%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.87.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $487.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.17 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 15.36%.Moelis & Company's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is 88.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total transaction of $172,065.95. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $309,967.63. The trade was a 35.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 89.8% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 153.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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. 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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