ING Groep NV Trims Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

ING Groep NV reduced its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 59.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,157 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $5,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 380,828 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,530,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $954,712,000 after buying an additional 223,257 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,409,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $718,368,000 after purchasing an additional 58,461 shares in the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $679,837,000 after buying an additional 40,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.7% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,262,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $465,929,000 after buying an additional 121,260 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MMC. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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 issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $225.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC opened at $222.14 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $184.28 and a twelve month high of $232.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $224.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $109.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This trade represents a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.