Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.67.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $71.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Moelis & Company from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Moelis & Company from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $92.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MC. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 115.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 995 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 193.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 75.2% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,465 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Moelis & Company stock opened at $77.25 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.79 and its 200-day moving average is $69.23. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $46.24 and a 1 year high of $81.60. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.76 and a beta of 1.39.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The firm had revenue of $273.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.15) EPS. Moelis & Company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 452.83%.

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.