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

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 15th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.815 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 15.1% per year over the last three years. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 31.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Marsh & McLennan Companies to earn $9.47 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 34.4%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:MMC opened at $223.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $109.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.96. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 12 month low of $189.90 and a 12 month high of $235.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MMC shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $242.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total value of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.