Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $212.00 to $214.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an underperform rating on the stock. Approximately 716,789 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the previous session’s volume of 1,413,938 shares.The stock last traded at $209.65 and had previously closed at $209.11.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MMC. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.60.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMC. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 9.9% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 226,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,643,000 after purchasing an additional 20,342 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 6.7% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,416,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 41.0% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,608,000 after acquiring an additional 20,167 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 17.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,175,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,731,000 after acquiring an additional 175,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.5% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 16,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,456,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $219.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.12. The company has a market cap of $103.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.