Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) PT Raised to $210.00

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $205.00 to $210.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $212.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a market perform rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $204.73.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

NYSE MMC opened at $201.65 on Monday. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52 week low of $171.47 and a 52 week high of $209.20. The company has a market cap of $99.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.72.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 33.72%. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 37.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total transaction of $2,508,670.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $6,762,205.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $611,374.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total value of $2,508,670.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,762,205.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,798,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,298,414,000 after acquiring an additional 180,128 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,423,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,696,223,000 after acquiring an additional 61,408 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,243,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,940,789,000 after acquiring an additional 2,526,701 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 105,777.7% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 9,763,286 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,278,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,575,881,000 after acquiring an additional 31,821 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

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 through Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. 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.