Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 22.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,636 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. now owns 1,404,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,134,000 after acquiring an additional 203,017 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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 worth $187,218,000 after acquiring an additional 100,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position 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 worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of MMC traded up $2.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $221.48. The company had a trading volume of 914,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,679,325. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.02 and a 52-week high of $221.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $210.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.43.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 16.84%. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.815 dividend. This is a boost from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MMC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $211.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.60.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company 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.