StockNews.com Downgrades Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) to Hold

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of MC stock opened at $59.61 on Thursday. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $46.24 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.87 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $72.87 and its 200-day moving average is $71.72.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. Equities research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In related news, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $260,110.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $718,688.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in 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 valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.