Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Hits New 12-Month High on Strong Earnings

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $81.99 and last traded at $81.37, with a volume of 175200 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $79.68.

The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 12.15%.

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 given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is presently 452.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.83.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,181 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $554,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 115.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 995 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 110.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 153.29 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $75.40 and its 200 day moving average is $70.67.

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.