Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Insider Sells $94,868.00 in Stock

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of Moelis & Company 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Moelis & Company stock traded down $1.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $68.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,397,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 795,446. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $46.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.81. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19 and a beta of 1.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is presently 147.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,147,315 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $601,924,000 after purchasing an additional 99,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Moelis & Company by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,316 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $108,973,000 after purchasing an additional 10,698 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,062,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 935,552 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $69,119,000 after buying an additional 12,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 860,125 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $63,546,000 after buying an additional 36,736 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.