Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Rating Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) was upgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Zacks Research raised Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.29.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MC opened at $68.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 1.77. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $72.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.48.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $365.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.57 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 42.72% and a net margin of 14.31%.The business’s revenue was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $515,544.68. This trade represents a 26.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total value of $460,537.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,515.84. The trade was a 97.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 214.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,942,299 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $171,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,747 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the second quarter worth $46,762,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Moelis & Company by 1,161.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 661,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $41,231,000 after buying an additional 609,162 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Moelis & Company by 32.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,356,893 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $137,548,000 after buying an additional 579,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the second quarter worth $31,248,000. 91.53% of the stock is 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.