Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 17.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,343 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $11,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 225.1% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,051,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,803,000 after purchasing an additional 727,714 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,158,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,092,108,000 after purchasing an additional 837,117 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 18.7% during the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 218,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,692,000 after buying an additional 34,400 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 48,212.9% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,629,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,845,000 after buying an additional 2,623,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 48.6% during the second quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 8,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,806 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.22, for a total transaction of $3,841,015.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at $15,977,231.82. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MMC. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $222.00 to $212.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $213.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $221.00 to $206.00 in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

NYSE MMC opened at $186.10 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $91.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.75. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $174.18 and a twelve month high of $248.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

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

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.