Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC – Get Rating) is set to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 21st. Analysts expect Marsh & McLennan Companies to post earnings of $2.17 per share for the quarter. Individual interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.
Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.93 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 30.91% and a net margin of 15.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Marsh & McLennan Companies to post $7 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.
NYSE:MMC opened at $169.89 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $159.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.34. The firm has a market cap of $85.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.97. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52-week low of $124.62 and a 52-week high of $175.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 5th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 34.91%.
Marsh & McLennan Companies declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 23rd that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 1,791 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.21, for a total transaction of $306,637.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martine Ferland sold 4,797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.28, for a total value of $759,269.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NEXT Financial Group Inc lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 117.5% in the 4th quarter. NEXT Financial Group Inc now owns 1,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $208,000. Colony Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $305,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.85% of the company’s stock.
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $183.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, January 28th. Bank of America lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 6th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $179.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 31st. Finally, Zacks Investment Research lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $161.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.92.
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 in two segments, Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting. 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, catastrophe and financial modeling, and related advisory services; and insurance program management services.