Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Director Kenneth Shropshire Sells 2,551 Shares

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MC opened at $71.37 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.58. The company has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. On average, analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 147.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MC. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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.