Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Shares Up 4.2%

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) shares shot up 4.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $57.10 and last traded at $57.00. 213,507 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 595,787 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $54.00 target price (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.80.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $54.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.60.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.11. Moelis & Company had a negative net margin of 1.33% and a negative return on equity of 0.12%. The company had revenue of $217.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is -1,263.16%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $2,159,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 42,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,290,965.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Navid Mahmoodzadegan sold 44,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.92, for a total value of $2,470,301.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total transaction of $2,159,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 42,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,290,965.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 147.9% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 657 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 510.2% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 836 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.