Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Director Sells $184,437.30 in Stock

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

MC stock opened at $71.37 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.66. 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 $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 147.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 372,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $75,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,017,000. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MC. StockNews.com downgraded Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.83.

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.