Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $197.62, but opened at $205.98. Marsh & McLennan Companies shares last traded at $204.26, with a volume of 329,397 shares traded.

The financial services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 16.52%. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. 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 37.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. 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. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total transaction of $1,840,478.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,012,065.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total transaction of $1,840,478.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,012,065.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 9,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $2,048,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,291,675. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,798,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,298,414,000 after buying an additional 180,128 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,423,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,696,223,000 after buying an additional 61,408 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,243,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,940,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526,701 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 105,777.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,772,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,156,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,278,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,575,881,000 after purchasing an additional 31,821 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.72. The company has a market cap of $99.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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.