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

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) released its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.53 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $202.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.90 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $202.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.82. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a twelve month low of $171.47 and a twelve month high of $209.20.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMC has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted 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. 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 company from $215.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. 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, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,012,065.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MMC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 9,763,286 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $659,049,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 49.2% in the 4th 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 period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 331.5% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 20.5% during the 4th 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.