Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Stock

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $236.00 to $246.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MMC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $226.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMC traded up $2.21 during trading on Thursday, reaching $226.63. 225,158 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,680,992. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52 week low of $184.28 and a 52 week high of $232.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.70, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $223.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.54.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.15%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4,991.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 693,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,047,000 after purchasing an additional 679,474 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,784,190,000 after buying an additional 518,185 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 127.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 899,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,718,000 after buying an additional 504,897 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 31,846.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 427,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,430,000 after acquiring an additional 426,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,624,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,188,348,000 after acquiring an additional 380,828 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.