Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 109.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,483 shares during the quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MMC. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.60.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:MMC opened at $220.80 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.41 and a twelve month high of $235.50. The company has a market cap of $108.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.39. 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 (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. Analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.15%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

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.