Weiss Ratings Reaffirms “Hold (C)” Rating for Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC)

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC)‘s stock had its “hold (c)” rating restated by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MMC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $209.00 to $191.00 in a report on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $258.00 to $257.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $248.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $243.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.07.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC opened at $178.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $198.29 and a 200 day moving average of $210.76. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a fifty-two week low of $176.10 and a fifty-two week high of $248.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.60% and a return on equity of 31.79%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total transaction of $4,334,896.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at $18,031,597.65. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MMC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the second quarter valued at $1,328,587,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 54.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,814,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,127,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,505,548 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,038,594,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 48,212.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,629,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,845,000 after buying an additional 2,623,745 shares during the period. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $560,820,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.