UBS Group Reaffirms “Sell” Rating for Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)‘s stock had its “sell” rating restated by investment analysts at UBS Group in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $58.00. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential downside of 14.05% from the stock’s previous close.

MC has been the subject of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.11.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE:MC opened at $69.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.89. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $51.06 and a 1 year high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $321.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MC. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 292.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 153.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.