Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Short Interest Update

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,450,000 shares, a drop of 29.4% from the October 15th total of 3,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 668,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE:MC traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $76.31. The stock had a trading volume of 714,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 638,710. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.50. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $44.02 and a 1-year high of $81.60. The company has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.85 and a beta of 1.33.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 4.22%. The business had revenue of $273.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.15) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 452.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the third quarter worth $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 63.5% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 497 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 115.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 995 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 193.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Moelis & Company from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.83.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.