Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 28.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,881 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $4,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MMC. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,260,000 after acquiring an additional 3,535 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 15.0% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 2,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.1% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,848,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 632.2% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 17,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,768 shares during the period. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter worth $76,424,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 7,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total transaction of $1,673,221.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,919,096.95. This trade represents a 25.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total transaction 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 represents a 31.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,828 shares of company stock worth $13,350,279 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.41.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $242.39 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.08. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.17 and a 52 week high of $243.89. The stock has a market cap of $119.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.