Morgan Stanley Boosts Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Price Target to $210.00

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $205.00 to $210.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MMC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a buy rating to a sell rating and cut their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $204.73.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of MMC stock opened at $197.62 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $97.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.90. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52 week low of $171.47 and a 52 week high of $209.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $202.67 and a 200-day moving average of $196.69.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.05. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 16.52%. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.72%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the company’s 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 $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the company’s 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 $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 9,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $2,048,770.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $4,291,675. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ignite Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.3% in the third quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.1% in the first quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 1,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.7% in the second quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in 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.