Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on MC. UBS Group lowered their price target on Moelis & Company from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America started coverage on Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.89.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 0.7%

MC stock opened at $63.95 on Tuesday. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $51.06 and a twelve month high of $78.22. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.64.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.09). Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 38.94%. The company had revenue of $319.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 3.2 earnings per share 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 Moelis & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $172,065.95. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,967.63. The trade was a 35.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.6% during 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 purchasing 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 approximately $264,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,639 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

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. 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.