Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Price Down 6.1% – Should You Sell?

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)’s stock price traded down 6.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $65.00 and last traded at $65.5540. Approximately 147,288 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,119,079 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.11.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 7.0%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.89. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.85.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $319.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.51 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.94% and a net margin of 14.46%.Moelis & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 381,458 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,221,000 after buying an additional 26,800 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth approximately $5,718,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 111.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 99,199 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,075,000 after acquiring an additional 52,229 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 714.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 182,147 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,521,000 after acquiring an additional 159,779 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,019,832 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $70,103,000 after acquiring an additional 100,956 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.