Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 825 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $3,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 343.3% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MMC. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $211.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $207.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $611,374.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total transaction of $2,508,670.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,762,205.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC stock traded up $2.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $203.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,000,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,838. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $171.47 and a twelve month high of $209.20. The stock has a market cap of $100.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $202.81 and a 200-day moving average of $197.67.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 16.84%. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

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.