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

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $204.64.

A number of research firms recently commented on MMC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. TD Cowen began 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $215.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MMC opened at $198.07 on Friday. The company 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. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a fifty-two week low of $169.50 and a fifty-two week high of $209.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies 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 owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,198. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.8% in the first quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 56,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,566,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $237,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $2,688,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Hoagland & Co. purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.