Buckley Wealth Management LLC Acquires 87 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Buckley Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $741,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 22,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,713,000 after acquiring an additional 3,738 shares during the period. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $468,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $57,930,000. Impact Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,639,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 353,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,331,000 after buying an additional 11,991 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $242.00 target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.16, for a total transaction of $11,367,602.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,520,202.64. This represents a 63.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total transaction of $309,455.49. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,817.31. This represents a 31.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 57,828 shares of company stock valued at $13,350,279. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

MMC opened at $231.71 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.17 and a fifty-two week high of $241.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $224.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $223.62.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

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