Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,840,000 shares, a growth of 39.1% from the February 13th total of 2,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 765,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 5.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,762. The trade was a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Ciafone Katherine Pilcher sold 3,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $260,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 3,934 shares in the company, valued at $291,116. The trade was a 47.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 over the last three months. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth approximately $3,433,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $2,784,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 804,860 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,141,000 after acquiring an additional 96,720 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter worth $9,149,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 129.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 7,819 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE MC traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $60.19. 644,463 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 608,999. Moelis & Company has a 1-year low of $46.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.78. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20 and a beta of 1.43.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. Equities research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 147.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

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.