Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Price Target Raised to $81.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its price objective raised by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $80.00 to $81.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.11% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, January 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research lowered Moelis & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.33.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE MC traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $71.61. 2,180,631 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 860,176. The stock has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.87. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $47.00 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.96.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.37. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 45.62% and a net margin of 15.98%.The firm had revenue of $487.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MC. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 9.9% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 42,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $264,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,828 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 11,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 4,828 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Moelis & Company News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moelis & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings and buyback — Moelis reported Q4 revenue of ~$487.9M (up ~11% YoY) and beat EPS estimates; the board authorized a $300M share buyback, a clear shareholder-return signal that supports the rally. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / higher price target — Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $90 and kept an Overweight rating, implying material upside vs. the current share level and lending buy-side credibility. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend reinstated/higher yield — Management declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65/share (implying ~3.7% yield), which increases cash return to investors and can support multiple expansion for the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Business momentum / strategy — Company commentary and coverage highlight M&A momentum, capital markets expansion and strategic hires that could sustain fee pipelines, but these are longer-cycle drivers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst estimates — Some analysts have boosted near-term EPS estimates, which supports expectations, but forecast dispersion remains (median target lower than Morgan Stanley’s), so consensus will be important to watch. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability and cash-flow pressure — While revenue grew, operating profit and diluted EPS were modestly down YoY and operating cash flow declined materially; balance-sheet cash declined ~31%, which tempers the beat and raises sensitivity to future expense or market-pressure swings. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider/institutional moves — Recent insider selling and large portfolio reductions by some institutional holders are worth monitoring as potential near-term supply pressure. Article Title

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. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.