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

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $215.53.

MMC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th.

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $477,180.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,609,420. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $477,180.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,609,420. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total transaction of $2,324,098.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $7,625,035.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,735 shares of company stock worth $4,897,317 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,259,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $807,060,000 after acquiring an additional 11,459 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 925,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,003,000 after purchasing an additional 23,133 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. now owns 1,404,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,134,000 after purchasing an additional 203,017 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 12.4% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 906,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $187,218,000 after purchasing an additional 100,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,465,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $229.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 1 year low of $184.02 and a 1 year high of $232.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $222.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.53.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.01. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.92% and a net margin of 16.97%. The firm had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.31 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is an increase from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.37%.

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.