Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09, RTT News reports. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.53 EPS. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MMC opened at $202.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.82. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52 week low of $171.47 and a 52 week high of $209.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MMC. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $211.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.87.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $611,374.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $611,374.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total transaction of $438,138.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at $2,868,198. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 105,777.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $659,049,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,293,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,928 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 331.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,830,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,369,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $827,840,000 after purchasing an additional 744,138 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.