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FRESH Analysis Report
Aug 22, 2026
1 day ago · 100% complete
For AI assistants & researchers — machine-readable summary of this page

What this page is: Delvantic's full research page for Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC) — AI-driven forensic equity research: mechanical valuation models (DCF, EPV, anchored-PE, scenario) plus three independent AI lenses (Quality / Value / Sentiment). Everything below is rendered server-side; you are not missing content that requires JavaScript. All scores are predictions and research opinions, not financial advice.

Our current read (analysis of 2026-08-23): Designation Watch · Gem Score -6 (−100…+100 Quality+Value blend) · Quality 71 · Value -69 · Sentiment 0 (timing only, not weighted) · Composite fair value $123.70 vs $192.01 at analysis

Page map (sections in order; each card carries a stable reference-name attribute you can cite):

  • profile-header / price-overview — company profile, live quote, market cap
  • extended-analysisthe core: three AI lens reads with findings, scores, and the analyst memo
  • future-predictions — our forward price-band predictions
  • market-narrative / ai-findings / gpt-critique — narrative context, cross-model findings, and an adversarial critique of our own analysis (near the end of the document)
  • Members-only sections (render as login gates for anonymous readers): price-history, income-trend, key-metrics, financials (statement tables), insider-trading. The analysis above is public; the raw data tables require a free account.

More for machine readers: site briefing at /llms.txt · any ticker resolves at delvantic.com/stock/TICKER · raw inputs are public-company filings and market data (via licensed data feeds); every model, score, lens read, and prediction on this page is Delvantic's own analysis.

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.

MMC NYSE
Financial Services · Insurance Brokers
New York, NY 10036-2774, United States marshmclennan.com Updated Aug 22, 2:15pm
Price
$192.01
Market Cap
$93.5B
Employees
90,000
Beta
0.75
Avg Volume
2,912,450
Last Dividend
$3.52
CEO
Mr. John Quinlan Doyle

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. is a leading global professional services firm specializing in risk management, insurance broking, reinsurance, and consulting. The company provides strategic advice and solutions that help organizations manage risk, optimize operations, and enhance workforce effectiveness. Its core operations span two main segments: Risk & Insurance Services, which includes Marsh’s insurance broking and Guy Carpenter’s reinsurance expertise, and Consulting, delivered through Mercer and Oliver Wyman, offering services in health, wealth, and career management, as well as strategic advisory and organizational transformation. Marsh & McLennan is recognized for its significant role in addressing complex business risks and facilitating effective decision-making for clients worldwide. In 2025, it reported robust revenue growth driven by solid performance across all divisions and continued momentum from strategic acquisitions. The firm serves a diverse client base across industries and geographies, underpinning its market significance as a trusted partner in helping organizations navigate evolving risk and regulatory landscapes.

Runs with full report Generated: Aug 14, 2026 12:19am
Price Overview
Price at report time
$192.01
as of Aug 22, 2:15pm (1d ago)
Change · Aug 22
+1.80 (+0.95%)
Day Range
$189.48 – $193.73
52-Week Range
$156.64 – $212.65
50-Day MA
$179.84
200-Day MA
$177.53
Volume
2,552,429.00
Right now · live
Log in to get the live feed
Members see the real-time price and the move since this report (over 1d).
Share Structure
Outstanding 484,858,577.00
Float 489,042,543.00
Free Float 100.9%
High free float — 100.9% of shares trade freely, ~-0.9% held by insiders/institutions
Very liquid — most shares trade freely. Low insider ownership can mean less management alignment, but makes large position sizing straightforward.
Price History (1 Year)
Last updated: Aug 22, 2026 2:29pm (1d ago)
Revenue & Net Income Trend
The directional story — useful even when net income is negative.
Last updated: Aug 22, 2026 2:15pm (1d ago)
Why there are no quarterly figures for Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.

This company does not file structured financial statements with the U.S. SEC, so quarterly figures aren't available from our filings-based data engine. Annual figures shown here come from the sources that do cover it.

Revenue
The top line — total sales before any costs or taxes are subtracted. A measure of how much business the company is doing.
Net Income
The bottom line — profit left after subtracting all expenses, interest, and taxes from revenue. Reflects accounting profitability, but includes non-cash items like depreciation, so it isn't the same as cash earned.
Operating Cash Flow
The real cash generated by the day-to-day business — selling products, paying suppliers, collecting from customers. Calculated from net income by adding back non-cash items and adjusting for timing (unpaid bills, unsold inventory). When OCF consistently lags net income, the reported profit may not be converting to real money.
Period Revenue Net Income Net Margin YoY/QoQ
Key Metrics
TD Twelve Data statement HEX SEC filing
Industry comparison last run: Aug 22, 2026 2:21pm
P/E Ratio (Price per dollar of earnings)
HEX
Stock Price / EPS (Diluted)
22.78
Stock Price: $192.01
EPS (Diluted): 8.43
P/B Ratio (Price vs net asset value)
HEX
Stock Price / Book Value Per Share
6.27
Stock Price: $192.01
Total Equity: $15.10B
Shares: 493,475,682
EV/EBITDA (Total value vs operating profit)
HEX
Enterprise Value / EBITDA
15.33
Market Cap: $93.52B
Total Debt: $21.45B
Cash: $2.69B
EBITDA: $7.38B
Enterprise Value (Takeover price (cap + debt - cash))
HEX
Market Cap + Total Debt - Cash
$113.0B
Market Cap: $93.52B
Total Debt: $21.45B
Cash: $2.69B
Gross Margin (Revenue left after direct costs)
HEX
Gross Profit / Revenue
42.3%
Gross Profit: $11.40B
Revenue: $26.98B
Operating Margin (Revenue left after all operations)
HEX
Operating Income / Revenue
23.1%
Operating Income: $6.22B
Revenue: $26.98B
Net Margin (Revenue left as actual profit)
HEX
Net Income / Revenue
15.4%
Net Income: $4.16B
Revenue: $26.98B
ROE (Profit from shareholder equity)
HEX
Net Income / Total Equity
27.5%
Net Income: $4.16B
Total Equity: $15.10B
ROIC (Profit from all invested capital)
HEX
NOPAT / Invested Capital
14.0%
Operating Income: $6.22B
Tax Rate: 23.6%
Equity: $15.10B
Total Debt: $21.45B
Cash: $2.69B
Current Ratio (Can it pay short-term bills)
HEX
Current Assets / Current Liabilities
1.10
Current Assets: $23.20B
Current Liabilities: $21.06B
Debt/Equity (Leverage — debt vs equity)
HEX
Total Debt / Total Equity
1.42
Short-Term Debt: $1.60B
Long-Term Debt: $19.85B
Total Debt: $21.45B
Total Equity: $15.10B
Rev/Share (Top-line per share)
HEX
Revenue / Shares Outstanding
$54.68
Revenue: $26.98B
Shares: 493,475,682
Book Value/Share (Net assets per share)
HEX
(Total Assets - Total Liabilities) / Shares
$30.60
Total Equity: $15.10B
Shares: 493,475,682
FCF/Share (Real cash generated per share)
HEX
(Operating Cash Flow + CapEx) / Shares
$10.36
Operating CF: $5.11B
CapEx: $0.00
Shares: 493,475,682
Div Yield (Annual income from holding)
TD
Last Annual Dividend / Stock Price
1.8%
Last Dividend: $3.52
Stock Price: $192.01
Payout Ratio (Earnings paid out as dividends)
HEX
Dividends Paid / Net Income
40.8%
Dividends Paid: -$1.70B
Net Income: $4.16B
Industry Benchmarks
Last run: Aug 22, 2026 2:21pm
Compares MMC against LLM-researched typical ranges for its industry. One research call per industry, cached indefinitely — every stock in the same industry reuses the same baseline.
Income Statement (Annual)
Last updated: Aug 22, 2026 2:15pm (1d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Revenue $19.8B $20.7B $22.7B $24.5B $27.0B
Cost of Revenue $11.4B $12.1B $13.1B $14.0B $15.6B
Gross Profit $8.4B $8.6B $9.6B $10.5B $11.4B
Operating Expenses $4.1B $4.4B $4.4B $4.6B $5.2B
Operating Income $4.3B $4.3B $5.3B $5.8B $6.2B
Net Income $3.1B $3.1B $3.8B $4.1B $4.2B
EBITDA $5.3B $5.2B $6.3B $6.9B $7.4B
EPS $6.20 $6.11 $7.60 $8.26 $8.48
EPS (Diluted) $6.13 $6.04 $7.53 $8.18 $8.43
Balance Sheet (Annual)
Last updated: Aug 22, 2026 2:15pm (1d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Cash & Equivalents $1.8B $1.4B $3.4B $2.4B $2.7B
Total Current Assets $8.3B $19.0B $21.7B $22.1B $23.2B
Total Assets $34.4B $44.1B $48.0B $56.5B $58.7B
Current Liabilities $6.7B $17.8B $19.8B $19.5B $21.1B
Long-Term Debt $12.8B $12.9B $13.5B $21.0B $19.8B
Total Liabilities $23.2B $33.4B $35.7B $42.9B $43.4B
Total Equity $11.0B $10.5B $12.2B $13.3B $15.1B
Retained Earnings $18.4B $20.3B $22.8B $25.3B $27.8B
Cash Flow (Annual)
Last updated: Aug 22, 2026 2:15pm (1d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Operating Cash Flow $3.5B $3.4B $4.1B $4.3B $5.1B
Capital Expenditure
Free Cash Flow $3.1B $3.0B $3.8B $4.0B $5.0B
Acquisitions (net) -$775.0M -$453.0M -$993.0M -$8.5B -$630.0M
Net Debt Issued / (Repaid) -$273.0M $619.0M $1.8B $6.6B -$519.0M
Dividends Paid -$1.0B -$1.1B -$1.3B -$1.5B -$1.7B
Stock Buybacks -$1.2B -$2.0B -$1.2B -$900.0M -$2.0B
Net Change in Cash $700.0M $728.0M $2.1B -$478.0M $486.0M
Growth Trends (YoY %)
Last updated: Aug 22, 2026 2:15pm (1d ago)
Metric 2022 2023 2024 2025
Revenue Growth +4.5% +9.7% +7.6% +10.3%
Gross Profit Growth +3.0% +11.4% +8.6% +9.0%
Operating Income Growth -0.7% +23.4% +10.1% +7.0%
Net Income Growth -3.0% +23.1% +8.1% +2.5%
EBITDA Growth -1.7% +20.3% +9.5% +6.7%
Dividend History (Last 20)
Last updated: Aug 22, 2026 2:15pm (1d ago)
Date Dividend Declaration Record Payment
2026-01-29 $0.90
2025-10-02 $0.90
2025-07-24 $0.90
2025-04-03 $0.82
2025-01-30 $0.82
2024-10-04 $0.82
2024-07-25 $0.82
2024-04-03 $0.71
2024-01-24 $0.71
2023-10-05 $0.71
2023-07-26 $0.71
2023-04-04 $0.59
2023-01-25 $0.59
2022-10-06 $0.59
2022-07-27 $0.59
2022-04-05 $0.54
2022-01-26 $0.54
2021-10-07 $0.54
2021-07-28 $0.54
2021-04-06 $0.47
0Company Classification 1Industry Landscape 2Company Momentum 3Forward Projection 4aDCF Valuation 4bEarnings Power Value 4cAnchored PE 4dReverse DCF 4eRevenue-Based DCF 4fAnchored P/S 4gScenario Analysis 4hDividend Discount Model 4iBook Value Analysis 4jInsider Activity 4fCash Flow Quality 4gDebt Maturity Risk 4hMacro Environment 4iSector Intelligence 4jRevenue Confidence 4kSensitivity Analysis 4lSector Demand Cycle 5AI Investigation 5bThesis Evaluation 6Valuation Synthesis
computed not applicable not yet run 13 computed · 6 not applicable · 5 not yet run
Narrative Economics
The story the market is telling about this stock — the intangible X-factor (founder mythology, cult dynamics, TAM-of-imagination) that moves price beyond what cash flows alone explain. After Shiller, Narrative Economics.
No narrative profile yet for MMC — it's generated by the pipeline (market-narrative step).
Growth Outlook
Analyzed 2026-08-22 14:39

The question every valuation on this page silently assumes: is this company likely to grow? Judged forward — the business, its category, the world — against what's already printed.

Growing Fee-annuity model plus McGriff keeps reported growth in the high single digits, but organic growth is decaying as the P&C pricing cycle softens — durable growth, decelerating slope. conf 7/10
Inline with category Category growing · Insurance broking is growing ~7-9% (3y industry CAGR 7.1%, category median recent growth 9.5%) but the cycle phase has turned to slowdown. MMC's reported 10.3% is at/above category median, though a large slice is McGriff rather than share capture; organic growth is broadly in line with peers, not ahead.
Next 2 quarters
Growing
McGriff still contributes inorganic revenue in the near prints and fee businesses are contractually visible; expect mid-to-high single digit reported revenue with mid-single organic and continued modest margin gains. Direction of change is down, but the level stays clearly positive.
≈ inline with expectations
Year 1
Growing
Full year should deliver mid-single-digit organic revenue plus tuck-ins, with EPS growth in the high single digits from margin expansion and buybacks. The step-down comes as McGriff anniversaries and soft-market pricing bites the broking line.
↓ below expectations
Years 2–3
Growing
Structural earnings power still compounds: non-discretionary risk advice, high retention, complexity-driven demand in cyber/climate/health, and a proven M&A-plus-margin flywheel. But the slope is mid-single revenue and high-single EPS, not the hard-market pace of 2022-24.
↓ below expectations
The creme: each rung's call measured against what's already printed (vs analyst estimates · vs guidance / FY consensus · vs price-implied growth) — expectations in print are already in the price, so only the variant margin can pay. Hover a rung's chip for the margin read.
Growth drivers
74 Recurring, renewal-based revenue base — Broking and consulting revenue is contract/renewal driven with very high client retention; risk intermediation is a non-discretionary line item for corporates, so the revenue floor barely moves in a downturn. This underwrites 'Growing' rather than 'Holding' even with a soft rate cycle.
61 McGriff + serial tuck-in M&A — The $7.75bn McGriff acquisition adds middle-market US distribution and lifts reported revenue ~5pts through the anniversary; MMC's habitual bolt-on program keeps converting FCF (12.3% CAGR) into acquired revenue, adding 2-3pts annually on top of organic.
53 Margin/EPS engine above revenue line — Long-run pattern of adjusted margin expansion plus buybacks means EPS growth persists at ~8-10% even when organic revenue slows to mid-single digits. Recent 2.5% earnings YoY is deal-cost and interest-drag distorted, not a run-rate.
38 Secular demand in Mercer health/wealth — Employer medical cost inflation, retirement/DC outsourcing and pension de-risking give Mercer a fee stream tied to complexity rather than to insurance pricing — a genuine offset to broking cyclicality.
Growth risks
73 Softening P&C and reinsurance pricing — Commissions scale with premium; property and reinsurance rates are decelerating/declining, which compresses organic broking growth toward 3-4% from the 7-8% of 2023-24. This is the single biggest determinant of the next two years and it is moving against MMC.
62 Organic deceleration hidden by M&A — Reported +10.3% revenue YoY overstates the underlying business; once McGriff anniversaries, headline steps down toward organic plus small tuck-ins. The category's own slowdown signal corroborates.
32 Consulting cyclicality / competitive pressure — Oliver Wyman is the most discretionary revenue in the house and is exposed to deferred corporate project spend and share competition from strategy pure-plays; a macro-headwind backdrop caps this segment.
29 Rate-driven fiduciary income and interest cost — Falling short rates reduce fiduciary interest income (a high-margin tailwind that reverses), while a 4.69% 10y keeps post-McGriff interest expense elevated — a two-sided drag on EPS conversion.
The world is turning from a hard insurance market to a softening one: abundant capacity and lower cat-reinsurance pricing shrink the premium pool brokers clip, so the industry's revenue engine slows even as risk complexity (cyber, climate, litigation) grows. Simultaneously, rate cuts remove the fiduciary-income kicker while the 4.69% long end keeps acquisition debt expensive. Offsetting this, employer health cost inflation and retirement complexity keep advisory demand firm. Net: a decelerating tailwind, not a reversal.
Growth position composite +11
ShrinkingStallingHoldingGrowingAccelerating
70Next 2 quarters · Growing
70Year 1 · Growing
70Years 2–3 · Growing
+11Composite (−100…+100)
A research prediction, not advice. Forward-graded: each rung is scored against the prints that follow it. Not an input to the GEM designation — track record first.
Claude Reading
Independent analyst synthesis · claude-opus-4-7 · generated 2026-08-22 14:28:59
Verdict Overvalued but not by 35% — fair value $155-165, not $125; premium is real but excessive given 2.5% earnings growth and cyclical hard-market tailwind that will fade.

Looking at MMC's raw numbers first: revenue has compounded from $19.82B (2021) to $26.98B (2025), a 4-year CAGR of ~8.0% — respectable but not extraordinary for a firm trading at 22.8x earnings. More telling: 2025 net income of $4.16B grew just 2.5% YoY against 10.3% revenue growth, meaning net margin compressed from 16.6% to 15.4%. Operating margin held at ~23%, so the earnings deceleration is below-the-line (interest expense on that $21.45B debt load, likely). ROE of 27.5% looks impressive but is levered — debt/equity of 1.42 and ROA of just 7.1% tell the truer story. FCF of $5.00B against a $93.5B market cap is a 5.3% FCF yield, which is fine but not cheap for a business growing earnings mid-single-digits.

The synthesis verdict of $125 fair value (-34.7%) strikes me as too aggressive on the downside. A DCF that spits out $125 for MMC is almost certainly using a discount rate that doesn't credit the quality of the cash flows — insurance broking is genuinely sticky (retention rates in the 90s), commissions scale with premium inflation which is running hot, and the Mercer/Oliver Wyman mix does provide real cross-sell. That said, the pre-flight and narrative layers correctly identify the crux: the market is paying 22.8x for a business whose earnings grew 2.5% last year. Even generous assumptions — say 8% earnings CAGR forward and a 20x exit multiple — don't get you to $192 with any margin of safety. Fair value is probably $145-165, not $125 and not $192.

The contrarian case for the bulls: the hard insurance market (P&C premium rates up double digits in 2023-24) directly boosts Marsh's commission-based revenue with almost no incremental cost — this is why revenue accelerated to 10.3% while the underlying business hasn't changed. If premium rates normalize (which cycle history suggests they will within 12-24 months), that 10% top-line collapses back to 5-6% and the multiple compresses. Conversely, cyber and climate risk intermediation is a genuine secular tailwind that could sustain elevated growth longer than skeptics think. The bear case that consulting is cyclical is real but overstated — Mercer's retirement/health advisory is annuity-like. Where I disagree with the narrative layer calling this "platform-monopoly": it's not. It's a Big Three oligopoly (MMC, Aon, WTW) with pricing discipline, but there's no network effect and switching costs are moderate, not extreme.

The data gaps that matter: no quarterly trajectory was provided, which is a significant blind spot given that the 2.5% earnings growth in 2025 could be a one-quarter anomaly (say, a legal charge or integration cost) or a genuine deceleration. The "insufficient_data" flag on quarterly trend is doing real work here. Also, capex is listed as "—" which prevents proper FCF quality assessment — though the $5.00B OCF/$5.11B FCF spread tells me capex is minimal (~$100M), consistent with an asset-light broker. No insider activity data was provided at all, which for a mature-earner thesis is a meaningful omission. I side with the synthesis direction (overvalued) but dissent on magnitude — the -34.7% call requires the hard market to fully unwind AND consulting to compress AND the multiple to re-rate to 15x simultaneously. More likely: MMC drifts sideways or corrects 15-20% as growth normalizes, making fair value ~$155-165. This isn't a short; it's a "trim, don't buy here" name where the next 3 years likely deliver 3-5% annualized returns including the 1.8% dividend — below equity cost of capital.

GPT Reading
Independent reading · gpt-5.4 · generated 2026-08-22 14:29:15
Verdict Overvalued at $192 — superb business, but the current multiple prices MMC like a durable double-digit compounder despite 2025 earnings growth of just 2.5%; I’d need either $150-$165 or materially better profit conversion to get interested.

At $192, MMC is being priced more like a premium defensive compounder than a mature broker/consultant, and the recent numbers do not quite support that premium. The business is undeniably strong: revenue has grown from $19.82B in 2021 to $26.98B in 2025, an 8.9% CAGR, while free cash flow reached $5.00B and operating cash flow $5.11B. Margins are healthy and durable, with gross margin at 42.3%, operating margin at 23.1%, and net margin at 15.4%. That is exactly the sort of profile investors pay up for. But the key issue is what has to happen from here to justify 22.8x earnings, 15.3x EV/EBITDA, 4.2x EV/revenue, and 6.3x book for a company whose earnings growth has lagged revenue. Net income went from $3.14B in 2021 to $4.16B in 2025, only a 5.2% CAGR, and from 2024 to 2025 it rose just 2.5% despite revenue increasing 10.3%. That spread tells you the incremental revenue is not dropping through at a rate consistent with a stock trading at a substantial quality premium.

The raw progression is actually a little less impressive than the headline growth suggests. Operating income rose from $4.31B in 2021 to $6.22B in 2025, but there was a dip in 2022 to $4.28B before the recovery, so this is not a pristine straight-line margin story. Operating margin improved from about 21.7% in 2021 to 23.1% in 2025, which is good, but not enough to explain why the market should pay a multiple more typical of a stronger secular grower. Meanwhile, the balance sheet is fine but not especially conservative: $21.45B of debt against $2.69B of cash leaves net debt near $18.8B, and debt-to-equity is 1.42x. For a business with stable cash generation that is manageable, but it also means the 27.6% ROE is flattered by leverage and should not be mistaken for extraordinary underlying economics. The cleaner figure is 14.1% ROIC, which is solid, yet again not so exceptional that I want to pay nearly 23x earnings for a company with mid-single-digit earnings growth.

What stands out most is that this looks like a business enjoying strong pricing and acquisition tailwinds in insurance broking while consulting and advisory likely provide diversification, but the market is capitalizing that as though 2024-2025 growth is the new baseline. I doubt it. Insurance broking is a very good business, but it is still tied to pricing cycles, exposure growth, and retention rather than unlimited volume expansion. Consulting is useful ballast, but it is not a reason to award a scarcity multiple in a softer macro backdrop. On $4.16B of net income and a $93.5B market cap, investors are accepting an earnings yield of about 4.5%; on $5.0B of free cash flow, the FCF yield is only about 5.3%. Those are defensible for an elite, faster-growing franchise, but stretched for a company where earnings growth has already decelerated to low single digits even while revenues remain robust. My read is simple: this is a high-quality company, but the stock embeds too much confidence that double-digit top-line growth can persist without margin friction.

The best case against my view is also obvious and respectable. MMC has exactly the traits institutions crowd into when macro conditions deteriorate: recurring client relationships, low capital intensity, strong cash conversion, a modest 40.8% payout ratio, and pricing support from rising insured values and increasing risk complexity. Revenue growth has accelerated versus the 2021-2023 base, and 2025 revenue of $26.98B versus $24.46B in 2024 is a real step-up, not financial engineering. If that revenue can keep compounding high single digits while operating margin expands another 100-150 basis points, then 22.8x earnings will not look crazy in hindsight. A bull would also note that 15.3x EV/EBITDA is not absurd for a durable oligopolistic intermediary with 5%+ FCF yield, especially if bolt-on M&A and buybacks continue to support EPS. I weigh those points less heavily because the 2025 numbers already test the thesis: strong sales growth only produced 2.5% earnings growth. When a premium multiple meets slowing earnings conversion, downside usually comes from de-rating rather than operational collapse.

What would change my mind is not another year of revenue growth alone; I would need to see much better profit translation. If MMC can grow revenue another high-single-digit rate while lifting net income by at least 8-10% and sustaining FCF above $5.5B, that would indicate the 2025 earnings slowdown was temporary rather than structural. I would also get more constructive if leverage trends down materially, with net debt/earnings capacity improving enough to make the ROE quality cleaner. Absent that, I think the stock needs either a pullback into roughly the $150-$165 range or a meaningfully stronger earnings trajectory to offer an attractive risk/reward.

Grok Reading
Independent reading · grok-4.5 · generated 2026-08-22 14:29:50
Verdict Quality compounder priced ~25-35% rich at $192 vs ~$125-145 intrinsic; wait for a better entry near mid-$150s

The numbers describe a high-quality compounding franchise that is still being asked to stretch. Revenue has climbed from $19.82B in 2021 to $26.98B in 2025, an 8.9% CAGR that accelerated to 10.3% in the latest year, while free cash flow reached $5.00B on only $5.11B of operating cash flow—essentially all earnings convert. Operating margin expanded from roughly 20.7% in 2022 to 23.1% in 2025 and net margin sits at 15.4%, supporting a 27.6% ROE. That is the clean story of an insurance-brokerage oligopolist plus consulting (Mercer/Oliver Wyman) riding a hard pricing cycle and cross-sell. What stands out against the growth narrative is the earnings lag: net income only rose 2.5% year-over-year to $4.16B despite the double-digit top line, and the five-year earnings CAGR is just 5.2%. Leverage is material—$21.45B of debt against $2.69B cash and $15.10B equity (D/E 1.42)—so the 14.1% ROIC is respectable but not spectacular once the balance sheet is counted. At $192 and a 22.8x P/E, 15.3x EV/EBITDA and 3.5x sales, the market is capitalizing mid-teens-plus growth and further margin lift that the recent earnings print does not yet confirm.

The valuation synthesis fair value near $125 implies the stock is roughly 35% rich, and that gap is the right directional signal even if the absolute DCF looks conservative. FCF yield is about 5.3% and the dividend is a modest 1.8% at a 41% payout; those cash returns are fine for a defensive compounder but do not justify a multiple that historically sat closer to the mid-teens. Momentum is real—recent revenue growth is the strongest in the five-year window—yet the disconnect between 10% revenue growth and 2.5% earnings growth is the contradiction the quantitative models correctly flag. Macro headwinds and a mature-earner archetype reinforce that this is not a re-rating story still in early innings; it is a quality name already priced as a secular growth compounder.

The strongest case against an overvalued read is simply the durability of the franchise and the cash engine. Insurance broking remains an oligopoly with high switching costs when catastrophe and cyber risk are on the line; Mercer and Oliver Wyman embed MMC inside Fortune 500 C-suites, producing recurring, high-margin advisory revenue that is hard to dislodge. Gross margin holds above 42%, FCF has compounded at 12.3%, and ROE above 27% shows the model still throws off economic profit after leverage. A bull can argue that 8–10% revenue growth is the new baseline in a structurally harder risk environment, that operating leverage will reappear once integration costs normalize, and that 22–23x is a fair multiple for a 14%+ ROIC compounder with defensive characteristics when the alternative is lower-quality financials. That argument has merit on quality grounds; I weigh it less because the multiple already capitalizes the best version of that story while trailing earnings growth and net leverage leave little cushion if consulting demand softens or the hard market rolls over.

I would reverse course if the next two reported years show net income growth re-accelerating into the high single digits or better while holding operating margins at or above 23%, or if organic revenue sustains above 8% through a softer macro tape without further debt-funded M&A. A clear de-leveraging path that brings net debt down materially while FCF stays near $5B-plus would also justify a higher multiple. Conversely, any quarter where revenue growth slips back to mid-single digits with flat-to-down earnings would confirm the premium is unsustainable.

Big-3 Panel — where each AI stands
Each AI above independently stated a direction (undervalued, fairly valued, or overvalued) and how strongly it believes it (conviction, 0–5). We combine those into a Bull-Bear Index on a 0–10 scale: 5 is neutral, 10 is maximum bullish (undervalued at full conviction), 0 is maximum bearish. We compute the score ourselves with the same arithmetic for every seat — the models never grade their own bullishness — so the three are directly comparable. Δ shows how far each seat sits from the panel average of 1.3; a large Δ marks the dissenting voice, usually the one worth reading.
Claude claude-opus-4-7 2.0
overvalued · conviction 3/5 · Δ +0.7 vs panel · self: 3.0
GPT gpt-5.4 1.0
overvalued · conviction 4/5 · Δ -0.3 vs panel · self: 3.0
Grok grok-4.5 1.0
overvalued · conviction 4/5 · Δ -0.3 vs panel · self: 3.0
Advanced Analysis Forensic deep-dive · separate lenses
Separate reads — Company Quality (is it a great business?), Valuation (is it mispriced?), and General Sentiment (how macro + narrative are pushing it), kept deliberately apart · 2026-08-22 14:40:13
Delvantic - Cairn AI
Quality — wait for a dip 7/10
Elite insurance-brokerage compounder (quality 71) trading at a full-freight price (-69 value) with no margin of safety — a wait, not a buy.
The cruxWhether MMC can grow into a $192 handle; the composite FV sits at ~$125-142 and 2025 earnings only grew 2.5%, so the entry price is the entire decision.
Forensic checks Derived mechanically from MMC's filed financials — not from the AI lenses
Liquidity & RunwaySelf-Funding
DilutionShare Count Shrinking
Earnings QualityHigh Earnings Quality
The four lensesswitch a tab for its full read — score + evidence
Company Quality
+71
Strong
edge √Σ 148 · risk √Σ 59 · conf 8/10

The business shows textbook mature-earner quality: revenue grew from 19.82B in 2021 to 26.98B in 2025 (about 8% CAGR), operating margin expanded from 21.8% to a 23-24% band, and net income rose from 3.14B to 4.16B while FCF climbed from 3.11B to 5.00B. OCF/NI of 1.12x, negative accruals (-0.9% of assets), and Beneish M of -2.49 all point to earnings that are backed by cash rather than manufactured. Diluted share count shrank every year (512.7M to 493.5M, -1% CAGR) with buybacks running nearly 4x SBC (1.5% of revenue), so per-share value is being concentrated rather than leaked. The one real constraint is the balance sheet: net cash is -18.76B against only 2.69B liquid, and Altman Z of 2.81 sits in the grey zone. For an insurance broker with recurring commission/fee revenue and 5B of annual FCF this leverage is serviceable, but it means the cushion is earnings power, not the balance sheet. Nothing in the mechanical checks flags aggressive accounting, and the multi-year margin and FCF trajectory is a quiet up-and-to-the-right pattern consistent with a well-run franchise.

Strengths 4
m78
Consistent revenue and margin expansion
Revenue compounded from 19.82B to 26.98B (2021-2025) while operating margin expanded from 21.8% to ~23-24%, indicating real operating leverage in a mature business.
m75
High earnings quality
OCF/NI 1.12x, accruals -0.9% of assets, Beneish M -2.49 — cash conversion exceeds reported earnings and mechanical fraud screens are clean.
m70
Per-share value concentration
Diluted shares fell from 512.7M to 493.5M with buybacks at 389.7% of SBC and SBC only 1.5% of revenue — capital return discipline is real.
m72
FCF acceleration
FCF jumped from 3.11B (2021) to 5.00B (2025), a 60% increase outpacing net income growth of ~32%, reinforcing the cash-generative character of the brokerage model.
Concerns 2
m55
Leveraged balance sheet
Net cash of -18.76B against only 2.69B liquid; Altman Z 2.81 in grey zone. Serviceable given 5B FCF but leaves little cushion for a shock or a large acquisition misstep.
m20
Margin plateau in 2025
Operating margin ticked down from 23.8% (2024) to 23.1% (2025) despite revenue growth — worth watching but not yet a trend.
This looks like a high-quality mature compounder doing exactly what a well-run insurance broker should do: grow mid-to-high single digits, expand margins gently, convert earnings to cash at north of 100%, and quietly retire shares. The forensic checks are clean and the insider/dilution behavior points the right way. My only real reservation is leverage — a broker with 18.8B of net debt is fine while the cash engine hums, but it caps how strong I am willing to call the balance sheet. I would grade it solidly in the Strong bracket, not Fortress.
Verify before trusting this (5)
  • Composition and maturity ladder of the ~18.8B net debt position and any floating-rate exposure
  • Organic vs acquired revenue growth split — how much of the 8% CAGR is M&A driven
  • Goodwill/intangibles as share of assets and any impairment risk from prior acquisitions
  • Segment mix between Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer, Oliver Wyman and whether margins are broad-based
  • Pension and off-balance-sheet obligations that could tighten the leverage picture
Valuation / Mispricing
-69
Rich
edge √Σ 20 · risk √Σ 104 · conf 6/10
Price $192.01 vs deserved ~$125-142; -25% to -35% overvalued, zero margin of safety. attractive below $150.00

At $192.01 the stock sits roughly 53-55% above the composite fair value of $123.70 and the signal-adjusted $125.31, and even the most generous input (anchored-PE at $142.05) leaves the price ~35% rich. The EPV floor of $105.35 says the current earnings stream, capitalized without heroic growth, supports barely half the quote. That is a market pricing in continued mid-to-high single digit revenue growth, further margin expansion, and clean synergy capture on recent M&A — essentially the bull case executed cleanly for years. Earnings quality is high (score 2), so no haircut is warranted, but that just means the deserved-value numbers are trustworthy, not that they are too low. Business quality (score 71) legitimately lifts the deserved multiple above a generic broker, but even generously flexing the anchored-PE case to the top of the range you still get $142-150, well below $192. The gap is the market paying full freight for a proven compounder — a reasonable stance, but not a mispricing in the buyer's favor. Net debt of $18.8B also argues against stretching the multiple further.

Cheap signals 1
m20
Quality and clean earnings deserve a premium
Score-71 franchise with high earnings quality justifies pricing above raw DCF/EPV, softening but not erasing the overvaluation read.
Rich / priced-in 4
m70
35%+ premium to composite FV
Composite $123.70 and signal-adj $125.31 vs $192.01 price implies the stock is ~55% above triangulated fair value.
m55
EPV floor far below price
EPV of $105.35 shows the no-growth earnings power supports only ~55% of today's quote; the rest is capitalized growth.
m45
Even quality-adjusted anchor is short
Anchored-PE, the most generous method, yields $142.05 - still 26% below price, so even a premium multiple for the franchise does not close the gap.
m30
Leverage limits multiple stretch
$18.8B net debt on a broker balance sheet caps how far a quality premium can reasonably extend the deserved multiple.
This is a lovely business at an unlovely price. Every reasonable method I have - composite, signal-adjusted, EPV, even the generous anchored-PE - lands below $145, and the stock is $192. I am not going to call a Strong-quality compounder 'overvalued' with high conviction because the market rarely lets these get cheap, but I need to see the mid-$140s or lower before the risk/reward tilts my way. At today's price I am paying full retail for perfection; there is no margin of safety, so I would wait.
Verify before trusting this (4)
  • Organic revenue growth trajectory in Marsh and consulting segments vs the mid-single-digit assumption baked into FV
  • Realized margin expansion and synergy capture from recent acquisitions
  • Net debt trajectory and interest expense post-M&A
  • Any forward guidance on capital return pace given elevated leverage
General Sentiment
+0
tail √Σ 0 · head √Σ 0
Tailwinds 0

None surfaced.

Headwinds 0

None surfaced.

The market-wide tape + this name's exposure to it (beta / sector / narrative durability). Context on the non-fundamental pressure — not a call on the business or the price. processId: detail-general-sentiment
Growth Outlook
+11
Growing
edge √Σ 116 · risk √Σ 105 · conf 7/10

The world is turning from a hard insurance market to a softening one: abundant capacity and lower cat-reinsurance pricing shrink the premium pool brokers clip, so the industry's revenue engine slows even as risk complexity (cyber, climate, litigation) grows. Simultaneously, rate cuts remove the fiduciary-income kicker while the 4.69% long end keeps acquisition debt expensive. Offsetting this, employer health cost inflation and retirement complexity keep advisory demand firm. Net: a decelerating tailwind, not a reversal.

Growth drivers 4
m74
Recurring, renewal-based revenue base
Broking and consulting revenue is contract/renewal driven with very high client retention; risk intermediation is a non-discretionary line item for corporates, so the revenue floor barely moves in a downturn. This underwrites 'Growing' rather than 'Holding' even with a soft rate cycle.
m61
McGriff + serial tuck-in M&A
The $7.75bn McGriff acquisition adds middle-market US distribution and lifts reported revenue ~5pts through the anniversary; MMC's habitual bolt-on program keeps converting FCF (12.3% CAGR) into acquired revenue, adding 2-3pts annually on top of organic.
m53
Margin/EPS engine above revenue line
Long-run pattern of adjusted margin expansion plus buybacks means EPS growth persists at ~8-10% even when organic revenue slows to mid-single digits. Recent 2.5% earnings YoY is deal-cost and interest-drag distorted, not a run-rate.
m38
Secular demand in Mercer health/wealth
Employer medical cost inflation, retirement/DC outsourcing and pension de-risking give Mercer a fee stream tied to complexity rather than to insurance pricing — a genuine offset to broking cyclicality.
Growth risks 4
m73
Softening P&C and reinsurance pricing
Commissions scale with premium; property and reinsurance rates are decelerating/declining, which compresses organic broking growth toward 3-4% from the 7-8% of 2023-24. This is the single biggest determinant of the next two years and it is moving against MMC.
m62
Organic deceleration hidden by M&A
Reported +10.3% revenue YoY overstates the underlying business; once McGriff anniversaries, headline steps down toward organic plus small tuck-ins. The category's own slowdown signal corroborates.
m32
Consulting cyclicality / competitive pressure
Oliver Wyman is the most discretionary revenue in the house and is exposed to deferred corporate project spend and share competition from strategy pure-plays; a macro-headwind backdrop caps this segment.
m29
Rate-driven fiduciary income and interest cost
Falling short rates reduce fiduciary interest income (a high-margin tailwind that reverses), while a 4.69% 10y keeps post-McGriff interest expense elevated — a two-sided drag on EPS conversion.
vs expectations: ~6m inline · 1y below · 2-3y below
The forward growth verdict — is the business itself likely to grow (next 2 quarters / year 1 / years 2–3), judged against its category and against printed expectations. The full horizon ladder + creme renders on the Growth Outlook card above. Not a call on the price (Valuation owns that) or the tape (Sentiment owns that).
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Lenses kept deliberately separate — Company Quality (price-agnostic), Valuation (price-conditional), General Sentiment (non-fundamental macro/narrative pressure), and Growth Outlook (the forward growth verdict). The scores are not blended. Filing-level items (convertibles, lock-ups, customer concentration) are v2 — see each lens's "verify."
Price Prediction
About flat -4.7% v0.6.0 View full prediction →

When we made this prediction on Aug 23, 2026, MMC was $192.01. We expect it to be $183.00 by Feb 2027, and we consider it great value under $150.00. This is an early model (v0.6.0) — the direction is more reliable than the exact price. Made Aug 23, 2026.

Price when predicted$192.01
Our estimate for Feb 2027$183.00-4.7%
Great value below$150.00
Price history shown (6 Months)

Blue is our prediction, starting the day we made it. Grey is a slower route to the same place — the same destination, taking longer. Black is the actual price, so you can see how we are doing.

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My Notes personal — only you see this
v1.1.562 · 9b2927c4 · 2026-08-22 16:52:06