Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MRSH) Stock Rated "Hold" by Sell-Side Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Marsh & McLennan, with 10 hold, five buy, two strong-buy and one sell recommendation. The average 12-month price target is $203.50, versus a recent share price of $170.33.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.96 in EPS versus the $2.89 consensus, while revenue rose 6.2% year over year to $7.28 billion.
• Marsh & McLennan declared a quarterly dividend of $0.99 per share, equal to an annualized $3.96 payout and a 2.3% yield. Insiders sold about $3.6 million of stock over the prior three months.

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MRSH - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $203.50.

A number of brokerages have commented on MRSH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Marsh & McLennan Companies from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MRSH opened at $170.33 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $81.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 1 year low of $156.60 and a 1 year high of $207.82. The business's 50 day moving average price is $184.37.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MRSH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.28 billion during the quarter. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 14.24% and a return on equity of 32.67%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 10.44 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. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 713 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $141,174.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 16,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,242,448. This trade represents a 4.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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, insider Martin South sold 7,100 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 16,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,159,913.68. This represents a 29.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 19,813 shares of company stock valued at $3,597,903 over the last three months. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MRSH. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company's stock.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

Marsh & McLennan Companies, now operating under the name Marsh McLennan, is a global professional services firm that provides advice and solutions in risk, strategy and people. The company serves businesses, governments and institutions through four principal businesses: Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer and Oliver Wyman.

Marsh is an insurance brokerage and risk adviser that helps clients identify, manage and transfer risk. Guy Carpenter provides reinsurance brokerage and advisory services to insurance companies.

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