Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MRSH) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MRSH) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $199.59 and last traded at $199.2440, with a volume of 3,054,195 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $190.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $203.00 to $179.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $204.42.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $94.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.60.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MRSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.07. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.32% and a net margin of 14.20%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $141,174.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,242,448. The trade was a 4.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Martin South sold 7,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.99, for a total transaction of $1,348,929.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,159,913.68. This represents a 29.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRSH. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the second quarter valued at $6,583,806,000. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 41.8% during the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 5,632,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $961,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661,178 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $685,621,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,454,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $599,198,000 after buying an additional 697,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the second quarter worth $575,845,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

Marsh & McLennan Companies is a global professional services firm that provides advice and solutions in risk, strategy and people. The company serves businesses, governments and institutions through a portfolio of specialized businesses focused on insurance brokerage, reinsurance, consulting and talent management.

Its principal businesses include Marsh, an insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm; Guy Carpenter, a provider of reinsurance brokerage and related risk-management services; Mercer, which offers consulting in investment, retirement, health and workforce strategy; and Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm serving clients across industries and regions.

Founded in 1905, Marsh & McLennan serves clients in countries and markets around the world.