Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target Cut to $75.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its price objective cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $86.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

MC stock opened at $59.61 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.78. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.87 and a beta of 1.43.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $260,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,116. The trade was a 47.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 1.3% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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.