Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Sold by Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC trimmed its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 282 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MMC. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,784,190,000 after buying an additional 518,185 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,304,000 after acquiring an additional 251,361 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $953,683,000 after purchasing an additional 85,754 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,999,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $892,309,000 after purchasing an additional 184,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,286,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $698,170,000 after purchasing an additional 71,990 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MMC. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $242.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC opened at $235.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $115.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $223.35. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.17 and a fifty-two week high of $241.84.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is presently 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.