Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 16.84%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MMC opened at $202.41 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52-week low of $171.47 and a 52-week high of $209.20. The stock has a market cap of $99.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $202.86 and its 200 day moving average is $196.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total transaction of $1,840,478.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,012,065.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total transaction of $1,840,478.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,012,065.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,762,205.62. 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 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $56,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $211.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $204.87.

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.