Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has increased its price target for Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) from **$74.00 to $90.00**, suggesting a potential upside of **27.20%** from the current stock price.
• Moelis & Company reported earnings per share of **$0.53**, significantly exceeding analyst estimates, with quarterly revenue up **38.1%** year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own approximately **91.53%** of Moelis & Company's stock, with recent buying activity noted from firms like Bank of America and Deutsche Bank.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $74.00 to $90.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective indicates a potential upside of 27.20% from the stock's current price.

MC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $69.67.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MC opened at $70.76 on Monday. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $47.00 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.86 and a beta of 1.72. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $70.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.24.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $365.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.57 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 42.72% and a net margin of 14.31%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total transaction of $460,537.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $9,515.84. The trade was a 97.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $515,544.68. This trade represents a 26.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $335,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 616,604 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $45,555,000 after purchasing an additional 77,224 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,966 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,508 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,290 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 255,444 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $18,872,000 after acquiring an additional 70,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

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.

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