Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Lowers Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 108,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 242 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $22,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MMC. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 11,459 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $195,003,000 after acquiring an additional 23,133 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.9% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 203,017 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 12.4% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 906,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $187,218,000 after acquiring an additional 100,378 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $3,465,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $229.68 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $222.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.57. The company has a market cap of $113.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $184.02 and a 12-month high of $232.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.01. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $2,324,098.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,625,035.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $2,324,098.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,625,035.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,925.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,735 shares of company stock worth $4,897,317. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.