Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Sold by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd trimmed its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 927,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 84,063 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $175,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MMC. Markel Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.5% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 618,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,456,000 after acquiring an additional 9,300 shares during the period. United Bank raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 7,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.9% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 37,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,395,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 43.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $189.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $204.73.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of MMC traded up $5.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $203.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,618,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,698,392. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.69. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $171.47 and a fifty-two week high of $209.20. The company has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.90. 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 (NYSE:MMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 16.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 37.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,762,205.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 9,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $2,048,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,291,675. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,762,205.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company 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.