Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Receives $78.83 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $78.83.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of MC stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 377,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 806,081. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.75 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $46.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.08.

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

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. This is an increase from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Moelis & Company news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at $90,798. The trade was a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 1.2% in the 4th 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,316 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $108,973,000 after acquiring an additional 10,698 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $86,062,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 935,552 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $69,119,000 after acquiring an additional 12,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 860,125 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $63,546,000 after acquiring an additional 36,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

About Moelis & Company

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.