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

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $233.41.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $281.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MMC opened at $242.39 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a fifty-two week low of $196.17 and a fifty-two week high of $243.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $119.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $229.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.17.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.16, for a total transaction of $11,367,602.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,520,202.64. The trade was a 63.55 % 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 1,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total value of $309,455.49. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,817.31. This trade represents a 31.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 57,828 shares of company stock valued at $13,350,279. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MMC. 111 Capital acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,904,000 after acquiring an additional 2,690 shares during the last quarter. Members Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $344,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $380,000. Finally, Anchor Pointe Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $234,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

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.