Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Given New $213.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $212.00 to $213.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MMC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a buy rating to a sell rating and lowered their price target for the company from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $207.69.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $201.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.41 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $202.96 and a 200 day moving average of $196.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a one year low of $171.47 and a one year high of $209.20.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 sold 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,048,077,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,243,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,940,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526,701 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $261,787,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 322.7% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 761,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,232,000 after purchasing an additional 581,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,475,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,552,000 after purchasing an additional 566,675 shares in 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.