Vontobel Holding Ltd. Boosts Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,697 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $6,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MMC. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,784,190,000 after purchasing an additional 518,185 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,304,000 after purchasing an additional 251,361 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $953,683,000 after purchasing an additional 85,754 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,999,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $892,309,000 after purchasing an additional 184,239 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,703,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $603,205,000 after purchasing an additional 30,367 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MMC opened at $228.95 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.17 and a 12 month high of $235.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average is $216.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.96.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. Research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 39.80%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Profile

Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc is a professional services firm, which engages in offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy, and people. It operates through the Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment is involved in risk management activities, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking and services.