Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Has $214,000 Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lowered its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 343.3% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total transaction of $2,324,098.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,625,035.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $2,324,098.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,625,035.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.01, for a total transaction of $1,254,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,159,670.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,904 shares of company stock worth $6,607,149 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $218.09. 1,530,444 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,694,337. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.17. The firm has a market cap of $107.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $184.02 and a 52 week high of $227.63.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.31 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.815 dividend. This is a positive change from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 25th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $189.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.25.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

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.