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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MC shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America began coverage on Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.33.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 6.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.90. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.89.

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

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at $309,967.63. This trade represents a 35.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 42,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the first quarter worth about $264,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 37.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,828 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 11,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 6.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.