Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MRSH Holdings Cut by SVB Wealth LLC

SVB Wealth LLC lessened its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MRSH) by 16.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,753 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $2,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRSH. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $611,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.6% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 34,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,975,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 15.0% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 29,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,101,000 after acquiring an additional 3,894 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 21.7% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 12,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 11.7% in the third quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $186.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $204.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $205.84.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of MRSH stock opened at $205.69 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $185.11. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.60 and a 52 week high of $214.00. The stock has a market cap of $97.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.32% and a net margin of 14.20%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 47.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dean Klisura sold 4,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $838,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,187,000. This represents a 16.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,215 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $243,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,000. This represents a 30.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

Marsh & McLennan Companies, now known as Marsh, is a professional services firm focused on risk, strategy and people. Its businesses help organizations assess and manage risk, arrange insurance and reinsurance, and address workforce and organizational challenges. The company operates through Marsh, an insurance brokerage and risk advisory business; Guy Carpenter, which specializes in reinsurance and related risk services; Mercer, which provides health, wealth and career consulting; and Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm.