Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09, RTT News reports. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $201.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.90. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52-week low of $171.47 and a 52-week high of $209.20. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $211.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,762,205.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,762,205.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 105,777.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 9,763,286 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter worth $659,049,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,293,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,503,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,928 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 331.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,830,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,369,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $827,840,000 after acquiring an additional 744,138 shares in the last quarter. 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.