LPL Financial LLC Acquires 20,342 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 226,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,342 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $47,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,259,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $807,060,000 after acquiring an additional 11,459 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 925,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,003,000 after purchasing an additional 23,133 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. now owns 1,404,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,134,000 after purchasing an additional 203,017 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 12.4% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 906,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $187,218,000 after purchasing an additional 100,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter worth $3,465,000. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.53.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total value of $925,882.77. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,925.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total transaction of $925,882.77. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,925.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $477,180.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,609,420. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,735 shares of company stock valued at $4,897,317 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.2 %

MMC stock opened at $229.68 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.02 and a fifty-two week high of $232.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $222.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $112.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.01. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.92% and a net margin of 16.97%. The company had revenue of $6.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is an increase from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.37%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Profile

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 through Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. 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.