The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Stock Price

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 35.33% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moelis & Company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.44.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $51.73 on Thursday. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $47.00 and a 1-year high of $78.22. The stock has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.31.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.37. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The company had revenue of $487.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. Moelis & Company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total transaction of $172,065.95. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,967.63. This represents a 35.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the third quarter valued at $6,105,000. AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the second quarter worth about $207,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 1.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 962,778 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,665,000 after buying an additional 17,220 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 354,658 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $23,691,000 after buying an additional 17,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Moelis & Company by 354.1% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 42,789 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,052,000 after buying an additional 33,367 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.