Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Coverage Initiated at Mizuho

Equities research analysts at Mizuho began coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) in a research note issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price target points to a potential upside of 13.73% from the company’s current price.

MMC has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $258.00 to $257.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target (down from $243.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.35.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.4%

MMC opened at $186.40 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $200.58. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52 week low of $174.18 and a 52 week high of $248.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $91.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.75.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 31.79% and a net margin of 15.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.22, for a total transaction of $3,841,015.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at $15,977,231.82. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,158,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,092,108,000 after buying an additional 837,117 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,538,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,340,556,000 after acquiring an additional 96,436 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,590,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,745,889,000 after acquiring an additional 221,033 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,702,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,567,410,000 after acquiring an additional 92,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,091,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,041,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260,434 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc is a professional services firm, which engages in offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy, and people. It operates through the Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment is involved in risk management activities, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking and services.