Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $278,000 Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.7% in the second quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.3% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,887,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MMC shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of MMC opened at $225.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $184.28 and a 12-month high of $232.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $224.75 and its 200 day moving average is $217.45. The company has a market capitalization of $110.62 billion, a PE ratio of 27.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 40.15%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company 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.