Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $71.39 and last traded at $71.38, with a volume of 121347 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.00.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.07. The stock has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of -378.42 and a beta of 1.33.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $264.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.90 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 4.38% and a net margin of 1.38%. Moelis & Company’s revenue was up 47.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is -1,263.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joseph Simon sold 6,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total value of $430,272.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Joseph Simon sold 6,723 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total transaction of $430,272.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 5,308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total value of $365,561.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,922.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,526 shares of company stock worth $830,133 over the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter worth about $3,213,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $801,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,118,245 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $63,483,000 after purchasing an additional 55,402 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 51.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 135,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,699,000 after purchasing an additional 46,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 305,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,392,000 after purchasing an additional 47,176 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Moelis & Company

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.