Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.11 EPS

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.11, Briefing.com reports. Moelis & Company had a negative net margin of 2.89% and a negative return on equity of 3.82%. The business had revenue of $217.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of MC stock traded down $4.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $49.85. 1,017,786 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 633,997. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of -138.08 and a beta of 1.35. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $33.87 and a 12-month high of $58.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.51.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is presently -666.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $54.00 price objective (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.80.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 7,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total value of $404,231.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 7,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total transaction of $404,231.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,600. 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 128,277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total transaction of $6,747,370.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 161,810 shares in the company, valued at $8,511,206. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 375,185 shares of company stock worth $20,130,225 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.96% of the company’s stock.

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.