Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Receives $204.64 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $204.87.

Several research firms recently weighed in on MMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. TD Cowen started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $189.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total value of $438,138.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,198. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total transaction of $1,840,478.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,012,065.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total value of $438,138.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,868,198. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 105,777.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,772,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,156,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763,286 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,048,077,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,243,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,940,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526,701 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,293,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,503,000 after buying an additional 2,075,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 331.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,830,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,962,000 after buying an additional 1,406,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MMC stock opened at $202.41 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $202.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.82. The company has a market cap of $99.90 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.90. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a fifty-two week low of $171.47 and a fifty-two week high of $209.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.72%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

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.