Mirova increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC – Free Report) by 273.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,254 shares during the quarter. Mirova’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 43,450,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,236,678,000 after acquiring an additional 310,250 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,306,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,702,898,000 after purchasing an additional 65,306 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 105,777.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,772,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,156,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763,286 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,188,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,520,443,000 after buying an additional 735,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,070,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,344,122,000 after buying an additional 153,613 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.64% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have recently commented on MMC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $202.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $199.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 8th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $189.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.23.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Marsh & McLennan Companies
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 3,000 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.90, for a total transaction of $584,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 63,012 shares in the company, valued at $12,281,038.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 3,000 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.90, for a total value of $584,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 63,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,281,038.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 70,106 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.53, for a total transaction of $13,006,766.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $6,248,279.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,082 shares of company stock worth $16,085,453. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance
MMC stock opened at $194.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.44 and a 200 day moving average of $178.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $96.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.11 and a 1 year high of $197.79.
Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.69% and a net margin of 15.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.
Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 27th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 26th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.36%.
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 in two segments, Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting. 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.
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