Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Mizuho

Investment analysts at Mizuho started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MMC. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $211.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $213.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $222.00 to $212.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.35.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

MMC opened at $187.21 on Monday. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a twelve month low of $174.18 and a twelve month high of $248.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $91.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.68.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.22, for a total transaction of $3,841,015.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at $15,977,231.82. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 14,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,022,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 125.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 7,709 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 10.3% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 122,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,767,000 after purchasing an additional 6,860 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.