Brokerages Set Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) PT at $228.60

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $228.60.

Several brokerages have recently commented on MMC. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 transaction of $553,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,784,190,000 after purchasing an additional 518,185 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,304,000 after purchasing an additional 251,361 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,530,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $954,712,000 after buying an additional 223,257 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $953,683,000 after acquiring an additional 85,754 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,999,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $892,309,000 after buying an additional 184,239 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC stock opened at $212.51 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.15. 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 $188.31 and a one year high of $235.50. The company has a market capitalization of $104.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.96.

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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.68 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 40.15%.

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.