Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) from an underweight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $92.00 price target on the asset manager's stock, up from their prior price target of $66.00.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on MC. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.17.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

MC traded down $0.09 on Monday, reaching $75.60. 798,083 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 628,467. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $46.24 and a twelve month high of $81.60. The company's 50 day moving average is $71.78 and its 200-day moving average is $65.13. The company has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.81 and a beta of 1.37.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The business had revenue of $273.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.15) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is 452.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 63.5% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 497 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 115.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 995 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 193.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the third quarter worth $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

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.