Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 44,739,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 356,618 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $9,503,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Napatree Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 3,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,054,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 294,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,669,000 after buying an additional 56,295 shares during the last quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MMC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 7,121 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total transaction of $1,673,221.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,919,096.95. This represents a 25.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total transaction of $309,455.49. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $686,817.31. This trade represents a 31.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,828 shares of company stock worth $13,350,279 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC stock opened at $232.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $223.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.17 and a twelve month high of $241.84.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.80%.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.