Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms "Outperform" Rating for Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their outperform rating on shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $92.00 price objective on the asset manager's stock, up from their prior price objective of $86.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC traded down $0.28 on Thursday, hitting $78.52. 1,427,852 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 749,157. The company's 50 day moving average price is $75.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.94. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $46.24 and a one year high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.61 and a beta of 1.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) 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%. Research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.57 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 issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is currently 136.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth about $49,017,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,855,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 252.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 220,770 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $16,310,000 after purchasing an additional 158,200 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,158,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $9,149,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.