Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $228.13.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MMC shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:MMC opened at $214.04 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $222.08 and a 200 day moving average of $221.09. 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 $186.63 and a 52 week high of $235.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in 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 worth $4,784,190,000 after acquiring an additional 518,185 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,304,000 after purchasing an additional 251,361 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,530,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $954,712,000 after buying an additional 223,257 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $953,683,000 after buying an additional 85,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,409,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $718,368,000 after acquiring an additional 58,461 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.