Short Interest in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Grows By 20.1%

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,610,000 shares, an increase of 20.1% from the February 28th total of 3,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 894,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 6.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $718,688.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares in the company, valued at $15,483,390. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MC. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 129.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 7,819 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 32.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 42,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 10,377 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,458 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $779,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MC traded down $6.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $53.74. 581,619 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 698,923. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.30. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 30.53 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is 147.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

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.