Insider Selling: Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Insider Sells 1,282 Shares of Stock

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $94,868.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of MC traded down $2.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,220,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 776,971. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $46.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.73 and its 200 day moving average is $71.58. The firm has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 147.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MC. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 148.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MC shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.83.

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.