BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Has $96.65 Million Stock Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 40.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 469,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 319,191 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $96,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 343.3% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded up $1.75 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $220.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,763,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,686,141. The stock has a market cap of $108.72 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $184.02 and a 52 week high of $221.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.55.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 1.48%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.60.

Insider Activity

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

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.