Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Price Target Raised to $208.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its target price boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $197.00 to $208.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen initiated 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $211.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $204.87.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

MMC stock opened at $202.41 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $202.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.82. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 12-month low of $171.47 and a 12-month high of $209.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total value of $305,582.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total value of $305,582.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 9,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $2,048,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,291,675. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 343.3% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.