Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Price Target Raised to $201.00 at TD Cowen

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its price objective upped by TD Cowen from $189.00 to $201.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MMC has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a buy rating to a sell rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $207.69.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $200.95 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $99.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.07. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a twelve month low of $171.47 and a twelve month high of $209.20.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total value of $305,582.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $611,374.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total transaction of $438,138.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,198. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 21.2% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 11,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $17,991,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 18.8% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 12,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,648,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the period. Pegasus Partners Ltd. raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.2% in the first quarter. Pegasus Partners Ltd. now owns 12,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,558,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $20,619,000. Institutional investors 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.