Morgan Stanley Boosts Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target to $67.00

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $61.00 to $67.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on MC. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a market perform rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $59.33.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of Moelis & Company stock opened at $70.09 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -368.89 and a beta of 1.33. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $38.58 and a 12 month high of $71.34.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $264.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.90 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 4.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 47.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is -1,263.16%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In related news, CFO Joseph Simon sold 6,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total value of $430,272.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Joseph Simon sold 6,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total transaction of $430,272.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total transaction of $365,561.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,922.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,526 shares of company stock valued at $830,133. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 63.5% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 497 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 147.9% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 657 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 510.2% during 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 last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Moelis & Company by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the second quarter worth $113,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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.