Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 13,701 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 28.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 35,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,701 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $7,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 6.1% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 4,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 587,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,059,000 after purchasing an additional 21,181 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $953,683,000 after purchasing an additional 85,754 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the third quarter worth $46,714,000. Finally, LGT Capital Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.6% during the third quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 169,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,742,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies 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 value of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:MMC opened at $221.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $223.81 and a 200-day moving average of $218.49. The company has a market cap of $109.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $184.28 and a one year high of $232.32.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 40.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $225.33.

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.