Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $223.00 to $233.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Marsh & McLennan Companies traded as high as $211.53 and last traded at $210.98, with a volume of 176738 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $209.93.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $189.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.27.

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.13, for a total transaction of $455,771.97. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,737,993.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.13, for a total value of $455,771.97. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,737,993.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,920 shares of company stock worth $7,903,935 over the last quarter. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 343.3% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $103.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $203.44 and a 200-day moving average of $199.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 16.84%. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

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.