Whipplewood Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 518,185 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $2,648,304,000 after buying an additional 251,361 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted 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 worth $953,683,000 after buying an additional 85,754 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 worth $892,309,000 after buying an additional 184,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $698,170,000 after buying an additional 71,990 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

NYSE:MMC opened at $234.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.65. The stock has a market cap of $115.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.96. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.17 and a 52 week high of $236.00.

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 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 1.39%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MMC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.