Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,840,000 shares, a growth of 39.1% from the February 13th total of 2,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 765,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $718,688.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $418,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 6,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $478,854. The trade was a 46.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MC. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 148.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MC traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $60.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 644,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 608,999. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 34.20 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $72.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.78. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $46.24 and a 52 week high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced 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 net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. Analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

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.