Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Sold by M&G Plc

M&G Plc lowered its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 6.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 538,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 35,985 shares during the period. M&G Plc’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $113,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.13, for a total transaction of $455,771.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,737,993.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 5,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.03, for a total transaction of $1,170,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,578,560.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.13, for a total value of $455,771.97. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,737,993.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,904 shares of company stock valued at $6,607,149. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $214.25.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC stock traded up $0.16 on Tuesday, reaching $217.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,870,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,696,548. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $184.02 and a 52 week high of $227.63. The company has a market capitalization of $107.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $215.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.01. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.92% and a net margin of 16.97%. The business had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. This is a positive change from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 25th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.37%.

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.