Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,887,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MMC opened at $221.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $225.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $216.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $184.28 and a one year high of $232.32. The company has a market cap of $108.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 40.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $225.33.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total value of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.