Morgan Stanley Boosts Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target to $67.00

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $61.00 to $67.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a market perform rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $59.33.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE MC opened at $69.43 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -365.42 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.68. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $38.58 and a 1 year high of $71.34.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $264.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.90 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 4.38%. Moelis & Company’s revenue was up 47.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.04) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,263.16%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other news, CFO Joseph Simon sold 6,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total transaction of $430,272.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Moelis & Company news, CFO Joseph Simon sold 6,723 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total transaction of $430,272.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total value of $365,561.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 86 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,922.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,526 shares of company stock valued at $830,133. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 63.5% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 497 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 147.9% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 657 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 510.2% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 836 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 2nd quarter worth $113,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Moelis & Company

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.