Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Acquired by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MMC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 7,320.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,108,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $235,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,817 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,784,190,000 after purchasing an additional 518,185 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 127.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 899,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $200,718,000 after purchasing an additional 504,897 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 31,846.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 427,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,430,000 after purchasing an additional 426,425 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 219.5% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 529,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,068,000 after purchasing an additional 363,569 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MMC. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America increased their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.13.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

MMC opened at $225.61 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $217.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.13. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $191.95 and a 1 year high of $235.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.80 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.96.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.60% and a return on equity of 32.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.45 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 given a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.80%.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.