The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target to $62.00

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its price target cut by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $70.00 to $62.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 8.28% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.56.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

MC stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.26. The stock had a trading volume of 468,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,229,478. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.90. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $47.00 and a 12-month high of $78.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.71.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.37. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 15.36%.The company had revenue of $487.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 89.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 64.4% in the fourth 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 period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 153.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 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. 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.