Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $235.50 and last traded at $234.66, with a volume of 330391 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $219.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.57. The company has a market capitalization of $115.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.96.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. As a group, research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is presently 39.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $1,236,186,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 551.0% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,224,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $472,599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,146 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,072,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $860,824,000 after buying an additional 1,823,807 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 7,320.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,108,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $235,511,000 after buying an additional 1,093,817 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,278,000. 87.99% of the stock is 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.