Analysts Set Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target at $71.83

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) have received an average rating of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $71.83.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the company’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 $94,868.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,762. The trade was a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $86,062,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $52,610,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 215.5% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 723,384 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,444,000 after purchasing an additional 494,123 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,855,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,720,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

MC opened at $50.46 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $46.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $67.95 and its 200-day moving average is $71.05.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 147.73%.

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.