Ritholtz Wealth Management Boosts Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.8% during the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 72.4% in the second quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 12,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,612,000 after acquiring an additional 5,206 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 173.3% in the second quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 9.7% in the second quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 30.1% in the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 57,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,033,000 after acquiring an additional 13,217 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. 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 research note on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $214.25.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total transaction of $925,882.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,925.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total transaction of $925,882.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,925.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $2,324,098.65. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 27,735 shares of company stock valued at $6,151,377 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of MMC opened at $227.51 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.65. The stock has a market cap of $112.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $184.02 and a 52 week high of $228.47.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

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

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.