Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV Reduces Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV reduced its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,384 shares during the quarter. Marsh & McLennan Companies makes up 1.1% of Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $10,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MMC. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 54.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,814,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,127,193,000 after buying an additional 4,505,548 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth about $1,038,594,000. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 153.6% during the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,370,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $578,517,000 after buying an additional 1,436,044 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5,035.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 808,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $176,836,000 after buying an additional 793,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,321,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,059,792,000 after buying an additional 581,930 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total transaction of $4,334,896.35. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of MMC stock opened at $201.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $98.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.01 and a fifty-two week high of $248.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $202.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.74.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.92 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 31.90%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 43.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $256.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $229.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $226.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.76.

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.