Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.82 (NYSE:MMC)

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of 0.815 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a payout ratio of 34.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Marsh & McLennan Companies to earn $9.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.5%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC stock opened at $224.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $110.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $223.20 and its 200 day moving average is $212.15. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a twelve month low of $184.02 and a twelve month high of $232.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.31 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.92% and a net margin of 16.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.53.

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $477,180.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,609,420. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $477,180.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,609,420. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total value of $925,882.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,925.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,735 shares of company stock valued at $4,897,317 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.