UBS Group Boosts Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target to $50.00

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its price objective increased by UBS Group from $47.00 to $50.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on MC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a market perform rating and issued a $54.00 target price (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Moelis & Company from a sell rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the company from $53.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of MC stock opened at $61.02 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.72. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $38.58 and a twelve month high of $61.63. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -321.16 and a beta of 1.35.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $217.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.30 million. Moelis & Company had a negative return on equity of 0.12% and a negative net margin of 1.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.05 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is -1,263.16%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $2,159,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 42,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,290,965.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Moelis & Company news, insider Navid Mahmoodzadegan sold 44,980 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.92, for a total value of $2,470,301.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 40,000 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $2,159,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 42,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,290,965.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,787,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $351,449,000 after acquiring an additional 28,446 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.9% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,417,643 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,020,000 after acquiring an additional 159,797 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,374,385 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $189,404,000 after acquiring an additional 334,620 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399,649 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,562,000 after acquiring an additional 60,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.2% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,118,245 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $63,483,000 after acquiring an additional 55,402 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.