Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $58.38, but opened at $52.39. Moelis & Company shares last traded at $57.84, with a volume of 187,876 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $85.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 1.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.77.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The asset manager reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $425.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $434.17 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 14.50%. Moelis & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 90.59%.

Insider Activity at Moelis & Company

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 1,881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.06, for a total transaction of $129,901.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,134.98. This trade represents a 19.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 6.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 503,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,984,000 after acquiring an additional 91,746 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the second quarter worth approximately $31,529,000. Madison Asset Management LLC grew its position in Moelis & Company by 45.6% during the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,773,735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $101,103,000 after acquiring an additional 555,557 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Moelis & Company by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 87,887 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 17,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $72,825,000 after purchasing an additional 61,130 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Company (NYSE: MC) is an independent global investment bank that provides strategic and financial advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, governments and other institutions. Its advisory platform focuses on mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, restructurings, capital raising and other complex corporate finance matters.

The firm advises clients across a range of industries, including technology, media and telecommunications; financial services; consumer and retail; energy and infrastructure; healthcare; and industrials.