Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.83.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $71.37 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $46.24 and a one year high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the 4th 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 period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of 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. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.