Short Interest in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Grows By 20.1%

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,610,000 shares, an increase of 20.1% from the February 28th total of 3,840,000 shares. Currently, 6.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 894,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of MC stock traded up $1.77 on Wednesday, reaching $60.15. The stock had a trading volume of 820,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 699,236. 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 $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $69.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.38.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value of $718,688.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 over the last three months. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 644 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 148.3% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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.