West Family Investments Inc. Acquires 288 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 380,828 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew 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 worth $954,712,000 after purchasing an additional 223,257 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 85,754 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% during 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 period. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MMC shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 value of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

NYSE MMC opened at $223.51 on Tuesday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $184.28 and a 12-month high of $232.32. 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 50-day simple moving average of $224.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.32. The firm has a market cap of $109.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.15%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies 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.