Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Upgraded at Royal Bank of Canada

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $250.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock, up from their prior target price of $242.00. Royal Bank of Canada's price objective points to a potential upside of 15.78% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on MMC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $242.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Monday, November 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $228.13.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MMC traded up $1.57 on Thursday, reaching $215.92. The company had a trading volume of 2,150,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,705,702. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52-week low of $184.28 and a 52-week high of $235.50. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $224.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.66. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $106.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction 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 $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Marsh & McLennan Companies

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,784,190,000 after buying an additional 518,185 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,648,304,000 after purchasing an additional 251,361 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,530,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $954,712,000 after purchasing an additional 223,257 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $953,683,000 after buying an additional 85,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,409,110 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $718,368,000 after buying an additional 58,461 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.