Advisors Preferred LLC Purchases New Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2,775.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 363.3% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $226.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $243.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $209.00 to $191.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $256.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.63.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $177.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $86.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $197.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.31. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.18 and a 1-year high of $248.00.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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 Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total transaction of $4,334,896.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,031,597.65. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.