Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Mizuho

Research analysts at Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Mizuho’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.17% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MMC. Barclays upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $221.00 to $206.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $248.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price (down from $243.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $211.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.35.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $187.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $91.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.01. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52 week low of $174.18 and a 52 week high of $248.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.60% and a return on equity of 31.79%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.22, for a total transaction of $3,841,015.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at $15,977,231.82. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,328,587,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 48,212.9% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,629,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $574,845,000 after buying an additional 2,623,745 shares during the last quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $560,820,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 212.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,285,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 89.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,892,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $615,309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,363,706 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.