Welch & Forbes LLC Decreases Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 34.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,580 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,812,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,200,000 after buying an additional 95,540 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,537,000 after buying an additional 998 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $232,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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 upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $235.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $115.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $222.83 and a 200-day moving average of $223.36. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.17 and a 52 week high of $241.84.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. On average, analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.80%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

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.