Marsh & McLennan Companies’ (MMC) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Raymond James

Raymond James reissued their outperform rating on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has a $250.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $240.00.

Several other brokerages have also commented on MMC. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:MMC opened at $225.97 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $217.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $221.49. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 1-year low of $194.50 and a 1-year high of $235.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $110.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.96.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.60% and a return on equity of 32.60%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 39.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Professional Planning Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 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.