Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $197.62, but opened at $205.98. Marsh & McLennan Companies shares last traded at $204.26, with a volume of 329,397 shares traded.

The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 16.52%. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.53 EPS. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is presently 37.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MMC shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total transaction of $2,508,670.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $6,762,205.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total transaction of $2,508,670.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $6,762,205.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total value of $1,840,478.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,979 shares in the company, valued at $2,012,065.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MMC. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.9% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 38,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,671,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 23.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 10.9% in the first quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 7.8% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 10,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter worth $918,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $99.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.82.

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.