Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) CEO Kenneth Moelis Sells 9,712 Shares

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Moelis & Company stock opened at $71.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.73 and a 200-day moving average of $71.66. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $46.24 and a one year high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 148.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating 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 issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.83.

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.