Swiss National Bank Acquires 9,200 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,464,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.30% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $326,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter worth $269,000. Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter worth $257,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.8% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 68,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,086,000 after buying an additional 5,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,350,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $690,167,000 after buying an additional 14,726 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,756,030.95. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $222.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $224.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.02. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MMC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $225.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company 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.