JGP Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

JGP Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2,775.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MMC shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $248.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $258.00 to $257.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $237.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total transaction of $4,334,896.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at $18,031,597.65. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $207.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.81. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.01 and a 12-month high of $248.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $203.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.05.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.17%.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc is a professional services firm, which engages in offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy, and people. It operates through the Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment is involved in risk management activities, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking and services.