Donaldson Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 456 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 343.3% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the third quarter worth about $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $189.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $212.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.29.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total transaction of $2,508,670.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $6,762,205.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total value of $305,582.76. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total value of $2,508,670.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $6,762,205.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163 over the last quarter. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.3 %

MMC stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $197.89. The company had a trading volume of 124,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,674,583. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.47 and a 52 week high of $209.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $202.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.64. The stock has a market cap of $97.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.90.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.05. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 16.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.72%.

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.