Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target Lowered to $66.00 at Morgan Stanley

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $67.00 to $66.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.83.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 0.7 %

MC stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $66.52. The company had a trading volume of 78,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 623,390. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.62. The company has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 446.93 and a beta of 1.33. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $39.08 and a 1 year high of $72.80.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $273.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.58 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 4.38% and a net margin of 1.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.15) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 1,600.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moelis & Company news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total value of $365,561.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,922.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total value of $365,561.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86 shares in the company, valued at $5,922.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 495 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.29, for a total transaction of $34,298.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,372 shares in the company, valued at $649,385.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MC. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 63.5% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 497 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 147.9% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 657 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 510.2% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 836 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 115.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 995 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.