Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Stake Lifted by SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC

SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 4.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,531 shares during the period. Marsh & McLennan Companies makes up about 1.6% of SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $7,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,917,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,046,079,000 after purchasing an additional 119,236 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,624,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,188,348,000 after purchasing an additional 380,828 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,259,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $807,060,000 after purchasing an additional 11,459 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,450,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $653,759,000 after purchasing an additional 25,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,350,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $690,167,000 after purchasing an additional 14,726 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $228.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $222.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.96. The company has a market cap of $112.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.02 and a 1 year high of $232.32.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.31 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.92% and a net margin of 16.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $0.815 dividend. This is an increase from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. 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 research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $2,609,420. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $2,324,098.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,625,035.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,735 shares of company stock valued at $4,897,317. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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 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.