Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) PT Raised to $212.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $209.00 to $212.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MMC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC opened at $221.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $108.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.25, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 12 month low of $184.02 and a 12 month high of $232.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $225.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $2,324,098.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,625,035.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total value of $925,882.77. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,925.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,566 shares of company stock valued at $4,420,137. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4,991.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 693,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,047,000 after buying an additional 679,474 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 229.6% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 932,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,066,000 after acquiring an additional 649,505 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter valued at $118,353,000. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $95,139,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2,623.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 467,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,376,000 after purchasing an additional 450,709 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.