Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Reaches New 1-Year High at $200.71

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $200.71 and last traded at $200.50, with a volume of 39781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $226.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $189.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, July 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.38.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.41.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.18. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 34.01%. The business had revenue of $5.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 7.93 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.92%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CMO John Jude Jones sold 4,908 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $947,636.64. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 7,978 shares in the company, valued at $1,540,392.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CMO John Jude Jones sold 4,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $947,636.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 7,978 shares in the company, valued at $1,540,392.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 3,000 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.90, for a total value of $584,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 63,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,281,038.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 103,259.3% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 74,945,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,095,813,000 after buying an additional 74,873,326 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 105,777.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,772,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,156,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763,286 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $659,049,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,293,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $303,203,000. 86.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc, a professional services company, provides advice and solutions to clients in the areas of risk, strategy, and people worldwide. It operates in two segments, Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting. The Risk and Insurance Services segment offers risk management services, such as risk advice, risk transfer, and risk control and mitigation solutions, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking, strategic advisory services, and analytics solutions; and insurance program management services.