Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $228.60.

MMC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays increased 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 note on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Monday, November 25th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC opened at $209.33 on Monday. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 12-month low of $188.31 and a 12-month high of $235.50. The company has a market cap of $102.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.96. 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's 50 day moving average is $219.53 and its 200 day moving average is $221.12.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.68 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total value of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,710,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 6.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 100,175 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,348,000 after buying an additional 6,282 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,648,304,000 after buying an additional 251,361 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 508,245 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,384,000 after buying an additional 23,445 shares during the period. Finally, Kinsale Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 27,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,024,000 after acquiring an additional 3,880 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is currently 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.