Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,578 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $17,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 3,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 12,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,066,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 237.1% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $209.00 to $191.00 in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $256.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.07.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.8%

MMC stock opened at $186.59 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $201.17 and its 200 day moving average is $212.53. The stock has a market cap of $91.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.81. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $185.12 and a 1-year high of $248.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.60% and a return on equity of 31.79%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.17%.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total value of $4,334,896.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 87,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,031,597.65. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.