Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Shares Down 6.8% – Here’s Why

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) shares fell 6.8% on Monday . The company traded as low as $52.11 and last traded at $52.35. 505,969 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 1,091,562 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.33.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.66. The firm has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.90.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $487.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.17 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 15.36%.Moelis & Company’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $172,065.95. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,967.63. This represents a 35.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MC. Impact Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,988 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,709,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in Moelis & Company by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 8,889 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 3,433 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

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. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.