Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Raised to “Moderate Buy” at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

MC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings raised Moelis & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moelis & Company from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE MC opened at $56.38 on Wednesday. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $51.06 and a twelve month high of $78.22. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.75.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $387.27 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 39.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total value of $336,105.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,078.30. The trade was a 97.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of Moelis & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.06, for a total value of $129,901.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,134.98. This represents a 19.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 6.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $31,529,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 541.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 16,651 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC increased its position in Moelis & Company by 45.6% in the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,773,735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $101,103,000 after purchasing an additional 555,557 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Moelis & Company by 24.7% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 87,887 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 17,411 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $72,825,000 after purchasing an additional 61,130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) is an independent global investment bank that provides strategic and financial advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, governments and other institutions. The firm advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, restructurings, liability management, capital raising and other complex financial transactions.

Moelis & Company serves clients across a range of industries, including technology, media and telecommunications; consumer and retail; energy and infrastructure; financial services; healthcare; industrials; and real estate.