First Manhattan CO. LLC. Has $2.98 Million Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,118 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $2,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,999,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $892,309,000 after purchasing an additional 184,239 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,919,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 106,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,618,000 after acquiring an additional 6,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total transaction of $309,455.49. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,817.31. The trade was a 31.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.16, for a total value of $11,367,602.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 28,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,520,202.64. The trade was a 63.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,634 shares of company stock valued at $16,244,986 in the last 90 days. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MMC. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $281.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $246.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $259.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $241.93.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC stock opened at $226.79 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.66. The company has a market cap of $111.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.77 and a twelve month high of $248.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.08 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.60% and a return on equity of 32.60%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.95%.

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.