Empirical Finance LLC Has $3.70 Million Stock Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 3.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $3,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,259,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $807,060,000 after purchasing an additional 11,459 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,180,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,078,000 after purchasing an additional 10,161 shares during the last quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. now owns 1,404,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,134,000 after purchasing an additional 203,017 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 906,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $187,218,000 after buying an additional 100,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MMC traded up $1.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $218.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,355,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,683,987. The firm has a market cap of $107.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $184.02 and a twelve month high of $219.71.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.53 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 25th. This is a positive change from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MMC shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $189.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler cut shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $211.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.60.

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.13, for a total value of $455,771.97. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,030 shares in the company, valued at $2,737,993.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 6,000 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.01, for a total value of $1,254,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 53,393 shares in the company, valued at $11,159,670.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.13, for a total value of $455,771.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,737,993.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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 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.