Choate Investment Advisors Buys 146 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Choate Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Marsh & McLennan Companies comprises about 0.6% of Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $25,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MMC. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.6% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,812,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $403,200,000 after buying an additional 95,540 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 33.8% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.3% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC bought a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the third quarter worth $205,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 130.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 216,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,399,000 after acquiring an additional 122,880 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.16, for a total value of $11,367,602.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,520,202.64. This represents a 63.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 7,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total value of $1,673,221.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,919,096.95. This represents a 25.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,828 shares of company stock valued at $13,350,279 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MMC. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC opened at $231.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $113.80 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.62. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.17 and a 1-year high of $241.84.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 39.80%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Profile

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.