Zacks Research Has Bullish Forecast for MC Q1 Earnings

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Moelis & Company in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, April 7th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the asset manager will post earnings of $0.53 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.51. The consensus estimate for Moelis & Company's current full-year earnings is $2.97 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Moelis & Company's Q4 2025 earnings at $0.97 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.70 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.03 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.87 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $3.52 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.07 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $4.48 EPS.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Moelis & Company from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.50.

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Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of MC stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.54. 996,288 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 722,006. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $64.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.14. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $46.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71 and a beta of 1.53.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 644 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,460.8% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 796 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 5,661 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $418,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 6,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at $478,854. This trade represents a 46.66 % 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. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Moelis & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is 147.73%.

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.