Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on MC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE:MC opened at $59.61 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.74. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87 and a beta of 1.43. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 147.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares in the company, valued at $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $260,110.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 3,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,116. This trade represents a 47.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 over the last quarter. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.3% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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.