Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe Sells 5,661 Shares

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $418,914.00. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 3.0 %

NYSE:MC opened at $71.37 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $46.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.58.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

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.