TD Cowen Cuts Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Price Target to $200.00

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) had its target price trimmed by TD Cowen from $213.00 to $200.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MMC. Barclays dropped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $233.00 to $221.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $248.00 to $242.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.63.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $178.47 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.81. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 12 month low of $174.18 and a 12 month high of $248.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.07. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.60% and a return on equity of 31.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 43.17%.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total transaction of $4,334,896.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at $18,031,597.65. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2,775.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the third quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the second quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.