NewEdge Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,448 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $7,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Louisbourg Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 67.2% in 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. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 106,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,618,000 after acquiring an additional 6,310 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 191,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,679,000 after acquiring an additional 16,464 shares during the last quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $3,635,000. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 19,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MMC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $281.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.53.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 4.8 %

MMC opened at $220.15 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.72 and a 1-year high of $248.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market capitalization of $108.51 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.85.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.04. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 39.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.16, for a total value of $11,367,602.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 28,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,520,202.64. This represents a 63.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,237 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.00, for a total value of $550,302.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,522 shares in the company, valued at $3,326,412. This trade represents a 14.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,634 shares of company stock worth $16,244,986 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.