Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Given New $75.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its price objective cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $86.00 to $75.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

MC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Moelis & Company stock opened at $59.61 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $46.24 and a one year high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.87 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.72.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 5,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $418,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 6,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $478,854. The trade was a 46.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised 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 worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.