E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Makes New $258,000 Investment in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,784,190,000 after buying an additional 518,185 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,648,304,000 after buying an additional 251,361 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,683,000 after buying an additional 85,754 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,999,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $892,309,000 after buying an additional 184,239 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,286,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $698,170,000 after buying an additional 71,990 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

NYSE:MMC opened at $235.40 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $196.17 and a one year high of $241.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $115.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $222.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.35.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. Equities research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $242.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.44.

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.