UBS Group Cuts Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Price Target to $257.00

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its target price cut by UBS Group from $258.00 to $257.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MMC. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $226.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $256.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $237.13.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of MMC stock opened at $207.12 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $203.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.73. The company has a market cap of $101.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.81. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 12 month low of $195.01 and a 12 month high of $248.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.06. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total transaction of $4,334,896.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,031,597.65. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2,775.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 363.3% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 109 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 Cos., Inc is a professional services firm, which engages in offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy, and people. It operates through the Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment is involved in risk management activities, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking and services.