Christopher Callesano Sells 1,282 Shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the firm’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 $94,868.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Moelis & Company stock opened at $71.37 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $75.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.66. The company has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,147,315 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $601,924,000 after acquiring an additional 99,766 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,316 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $108,973,000 after acquiring an additional 10,698 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth $86,062,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 935,552 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $69,119,000 after purchasing an additional 12,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 860,125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $63,546,000 after purchasing an additional 36,736 shares in 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.