National Pension Service Makes New $188.10 Million Investment in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MRSH

National Pension Service bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MRSH) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,128,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $188,098,000. National Pension Service owned about 0.24% of Marsh & McLennan Companies as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. 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 report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.50.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.1%

MRSH opened at $177.08 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.60 and a 12 month high of $207.82. The company has a market cap of $84.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.85.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is a positive change from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 48.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, Director Lloyd M. Yates sold 12,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $2,107,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,107,975.65. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Martin South sold 7,100 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider directly owned 16,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,159,913.68. This trade represents a 29.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 19,813 shares of company stock valued at $3,597,903 in the last quarter. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies 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.