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

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $226.00.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MMC shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total value of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.7% in the second quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,887,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:MMC opened at $227.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a one year low of $184.28 and a one year high of $232.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.82. The company has a market cap of $111.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.15%.

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.