Virtus Investment Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

Virtus Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 6,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,382,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2,775.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 363.3% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the second quarter worth about $39,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $221.00 to $206.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $226.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $213.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.56.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total value of $4,334,896.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 87,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,031,597.65. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $183.51 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $174.18 and a one year high of $248.00. The company has a market cap of $89.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $189.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.88.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.60% and a return on equity of 31.79%. The business’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 2nd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.17%.

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.