Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Short Interest Update

by · The Cerbat Gem

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,840,000 shares, an increase of 39.1% from the February 13th total of 2,760,000 shares. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 765,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MC traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.61. The company had a trading volume of 600,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,936. The company has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.87 and a beta of 1.43. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $46.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.74.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. Research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 147.73%.

Insider Transactions at Moelis & Company

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,762. This represents a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $94,868.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at $90,798. This trade represents a 51.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 in the last ninety days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MC. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Moelis & Company by 148.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.83.

View Our Latest Research Report on MC

Moelis & Company Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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