Sfmg LLC Sells 673 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Sfmg LLC reduced its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 673 shares during the quarter. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 343.3% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $6,762,205.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,762,205.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $611,374.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded down $1.03 on Wednesday, hitting $196.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,493,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,667,223. The stock has a market cap of $96.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $202.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $171.47 and a twelve month high of $209.20.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 16.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. Analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.