Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) CEO Kenneth Moelis Sells 9,712 Shares of Stock

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of MC stock traded down $1.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.97. 1,397,751 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 795,446. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.81.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. This is an increase from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is presently 147.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,420 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,509,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,812 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MC. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company currently has an average 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.