Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,957 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $5,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 251,361 shares in the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 67.2% during the 4th quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 8,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 508,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,384,000 after purchasing an additional 23,445 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 197.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after buying an additional 7,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 85,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,461,000 after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MMC. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Monday, November 25th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE MMC opened at $232.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $196.17 and a one year high of $241.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $226.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.60% and a return on equity of 32.60%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 31.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.16, for a total transaction of $11,367,602.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 28,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,520,202.64. This trade represents a 63.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,828 shares of company stock worth $13,350,279 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.