KBC Group NV Purchases 122,880 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 130.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 122,880 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $48,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 100.0% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC opened at $221.50 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $108.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $217.70. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.28 and a 1 year high of $232.32.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 40.15%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, 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. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note 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 report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $225.33.

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.