Zacks Research Lifts Earnings Estimates for Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Moelis & Company in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, February 25th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the asset manager will earn $0.51 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.41. The consensus estimate for Moelis & Company’s current full-year earnings is $2.97 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Moelis & Company’s Q3 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.95 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.50 EPS.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on MC. StockNews.com downgraded Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.83.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE:MC opened at $70.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.84. The stock has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.12 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 52.5% in 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. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Moelis & Company news, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $260,110.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,116. This trade represents a 47.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.73%.

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.