Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Shares Down 6.1% – Should You Sell?

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)’s stock price dropped 6.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $65.00 and last traded at $65.5540. 147,288 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,119,079 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MC shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.11.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 7.0%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.64 and its 200 day moving average is $65.89. The firm has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.85.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.09). Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 38.94%. The business had revenue of $319.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 93.53%.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MC. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $60,857,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,919,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 1,161.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 661,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $41,231,000 after purchasing an additional 609,162 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,773,735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $101,103,000 after purchasing an additional 555,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,304,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $235,654,000 after purchasing an additional 458,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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. 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.