Analysts Set Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Target Price at $228.13

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $228.13.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MMC shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of MMC stock opened at $211.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $103.99 billion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 1 year low of $184.55 and a 1 year high of $235.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $222.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.99.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 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 business had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total value of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,710,000. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 100,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,348,000 after purchasing an additional 6,282 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,304,000 after acquiring an additional 251,361 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 508,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,384,000 after acquiring an additional 23,445 shares during the period. Finally, Kinsale Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 27,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,024,000 after buying an additional 3,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

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.