Suncoast Equity Management Takes $1.52 Million Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Suncoast Equity Management bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 8,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,524,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MMC. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 223,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,602,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,180,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,078,000 after purchasing an additional 10,161 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,825,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 120,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,814,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MMC. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $189.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $212.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.29.

Insider Activity

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

MMC traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $197.73. 430,630 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,679,245. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $202.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.64. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $171.47 and a 1-year high of $209.20.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

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

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.