Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $77.00 and last traded at $76.70, with a volume of 5075 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.77 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.67 and a 200-day moving average of $61.51.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 4.22%. The firm had revenue of $273.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.15) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 452.83%.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 63.5% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 497 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 115.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 995 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.