Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MRSH) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MRSH) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.50.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MRSH opened at $177.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $84.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a twelve month low of $156.60 and a twelve month high of $207.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.85.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MRSH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.07. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.67% and a net margin of 14.24%.The business had revenue of $7.28 billion during the quarter. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a $0.99 dividend. This is a boost from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.41%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, Director Lloyd Yates sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.65, for a total transaction of $2,107,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,107,975.65. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Martin South sold 7,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,159,913.68. The trade was a 29.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,813 shares of company stock worth $3,597,903. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marsh & McLennan Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16,707.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 122,656,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,443,207,000 after buying an additional 121,926,988 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,583,806,000. State Street Corp bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,057,682,000. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,482,557,000. Finally, Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,140,284,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

Marsh & McLennan Companies, now operating under the name Marsh McLennan, is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk, strategy and people-related challenges. Its businesses serve corporations, governments, institutional investors and other organizations across a broad range of industries and geographies.

The company’s principal businesses include Marsh, an insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm; Guy Carpenter, which provides reinsurance brokerage and related risk management services; Mercer, which offers consulting in areas such as talent, health, retirement and investments; and Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm.