Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 434,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,538 shares during the period. Marsh & McLennan Companies comprises 4.4% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $91,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,526,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $1,185,000. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 10.8% during the second quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. WBI Investments LLC raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 268.0% in the second quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 8,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,839,000 after purchasing an additional 6,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 14.4% during the second quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MMC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.25.

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total transaction of $2,324,098.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,625,035.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total transaction of $2,324,098.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,625,035.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total value of $925,882.77. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $659,925.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,735 shares of company stock worth $6,151,377 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $227.51. 1,741,145 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,656,293. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.02 and a 1 year high of $228.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.48. The company has a market cap of $112.10 billion, a PE ratio of 28.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.22 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a $0.815 dividend. This is a positive change from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.37%.

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.