Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09, RTT News reports. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 16.52%. The firm 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 posted $2.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE MMC opened at $197.62 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $202.67 and its 200 day moving average is $196.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 12 month low of $171.47 and a 12 month high of $209.20. The stock has a market cap of $97.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.90.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total value of $305,582.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 9,994 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,291,675. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total value of $305,582.76. Following the completion of 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MMC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $212.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.73.

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.