Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) CEO Kenneth Moelis Sells 9,712 Shares

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

MC stock opened at $71.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.58. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The firm has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. On average, analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MC has been the subject of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.83.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MC. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew 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 buying an additional 491 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.