Insider Selling: Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) CEO Sells 9,712 Shares of Stock

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 transaction of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,483,390. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MC traded down $2.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.37. 1,220,221 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 776,971. The firm has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.58. Moelis & Company has a 12 month low of $46.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MC. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 372,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,549,000 after buying an additional 2,053 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the third quarter valued at about $75,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,017,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by 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.