Short Interest in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Expands By 20.1%

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,610,000 shares, an increase of 20.1% from the February 28th total of 3,840,000 shares. Approximately 6.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 894,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MC has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. 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 report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

MC traded down $6.39 on Thursday, reaching $53.74. 581,619 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 698,923. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $46.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.00 and its 200-day moving average is $71.30. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 147.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of Moelis & Company 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 $718,688.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in 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 last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,551.3% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 644 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 148.3% during 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 last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.