Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Insider Christopher Callesano Sells 1,282 Shares

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE:MC traded down $2.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $71.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,220,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 776,971. The stock 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 PE ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $46.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 147.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.3% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.