Baillie Gifford & Co. Makes New Investment in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 85,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,097,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MMC. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 85.7% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter valued at $41,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $225.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $217.45. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.28 and a 52-week high of $232.32. The firm has a market cap of $110.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.