Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Upgraded by Barclays to Overweight Rating

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $206.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.26% from the stock’s previous close.

MMC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $227.69.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC opened at $177.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $86.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.97. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 12-month low of $174.18 and a 12-month high of $248.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.07. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.60% and a return on equity of 31.79%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,031,597.65. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the second quarter valued at about $1,328,587,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 54.2% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,814,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,127,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,505,548 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $1,038,594,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $574,845,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623,745 shares during the period. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $560,820,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

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.