Jefferies Financial Group Raises Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Price Target to $208.00

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its price target upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $197.00 to $208.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MMC has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Cowen began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a market perform rating and a $189.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a buy rating to a sell rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $211.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $207.69.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

MMC stock opened at $201.43 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52-week low of $171.47 and a 52-week high of $209.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $202.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.98. The stock has a market cap of $99.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.90.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. 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 34.14% and a net margin of 16.84%. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.41%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total value of $2,508,670.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,762,205.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 343.3% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.