Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 24,624 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 839,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,624 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $187,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4,991.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 693,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,047,000 after acquiring an additional 679,474 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter worth $118,353,000. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $95,139,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 31,846.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 427,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,430,000 after buying an additional 426,425 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,624,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,188,348,000 after buying an additional 380,828 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,756,030.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MMC. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $225.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of MMC opened at $223.18 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $224.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $216.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $109.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.28 and a 52-week high of $232.32.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 40.15%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies 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.