Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Position Lessened by Captrust Financial Advisors

Captrust Financial Advisors trimmed its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,719 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $19,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MMC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,917,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,046,079,000 after purchasing an additional 119,236 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,624,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,188,348,000 after acquiring an additional 380,828 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,048,077,000. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,259,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $807,060,000 after purchasing an additional 11,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,474,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $658,407,000 after purchasing an additional 305,440 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $477,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,609,420. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 6,000 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on 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 owns 53,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,159,670.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $477,180.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,609,420. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,338 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,012. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $222.42 on Wednesday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.02 and a fifty-two week high of $223.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $212.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.31 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. This is an increase from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MMC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.25.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.