Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.82

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.815 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 34.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Marsh & McLennan Companies to earn $9.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.5%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded down $1.64 on Thursday, reaching $224.55. 1,434,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,647,475. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a one year low of $184.02 and a one year high of $232.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $223.05 and a 200 day moving average of $212.06. The company has a market capitalization of $110.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.31 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 33.92%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MMC shares. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $477,180.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,609,420. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $477,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,609,420. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total value of $925,882.77. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,925.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,735 shares of company stock valued at $4,897,317 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

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 through Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. 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, strategic advisory services, and analytics solutions, and insurance program management services.