Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Given New $212.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its price objective boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $209.00 to $212.00 in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $225.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of MMC opened at $222.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.62 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.39. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a one year low of $184.02 and a one year high of $232.32.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 41.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total transaction of $925,882.77. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,925.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 5,200 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.03, for a total transaction of $1,170,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,578,560.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total value of $925,882.77. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $659,925.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,566 shares of company stock worth $4,420,137 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,710,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 6,282 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 925,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,003,000 after acquiring an additional 23,133 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 906,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $187,218,000 after purchasing an additional 100,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kinsale Capital Group Inc. grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 26.8% in the first quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 18,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,984 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.