Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Acquired by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 240,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,853 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $51,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 5,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, New England Professional Planning Group Inc. raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 50 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 analysts have recently issued reports on MMC shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $281.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.53.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of MMC opened at $220.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.72 and a 1-year high of $248.00. The stock has a market cap of $108.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.81.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.815 dividend. 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 39.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.00, for a total transaction of $550,302.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,522 shares in the company, valued at $3,326,412. This trade represents a 14.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total value of $309,455.49. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,817.31. This trade represents a 31.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,634 shares of company stock valued at $16,244,986 in the last 90 days. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by 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.