Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $204.64.

MMC has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $189.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $215.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $198.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $97.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $202.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.56. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 1 year low of $169.50 and a 1 year high of $209.20.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 33.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.72%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,762,205.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total value of $1,840,478.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,012,065.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $6,762,205.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,617,156,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763,286 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,048,077,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32.7% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 2,526,701 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 49.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 331.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,830,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,293 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

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.