Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Price Target Raised to $248.00

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $235.00 to $248.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an equal weight rating and a $236.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $216.41.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of MMC opened at $221.80 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $109.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.15, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.40. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 1 year low of $184.02 and a 1 year high of $232.32.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 41.37%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the firm’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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,609,420. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total transaction of $925,882.77. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $659,925.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,735 shares of company stock valued at $4,897,317. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Kingfisher Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,887,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, X Square Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 51 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.