Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.82

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.815 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 34.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Marsh & McLennan Companies to earn $9.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.5%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE MMC traded down $1.58 on Thursday, reaching $224.61. The stock had a trading volume of 2,463,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,653,201. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $223.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.06. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 1 year low of $184.02 and a 1 year high of $232.32. The company has a market capitalization of $110.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.31 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $477,180.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,861 shares in the company, valued at $2,609,420. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $2,324,098.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,625,035.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $477,180.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,609,420. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,735 shares of company stock valued at $4,897,317. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.53.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

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.