Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 127.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 899,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 504,897 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $200,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,530,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $954,712,000 after purchasing an additional 223,257 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,683,000 after buying an additional 85,754 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,409,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $718,368,000 after buying an additional 58,461 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% in the second quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $679,837,000 after acquiring an additional 40,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,703,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $603,205,000 after acquiring an additional 30,367 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.9 %

MMC stock opened at $232.77 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $223.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.31. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $184.28 and a twelve month high of $233.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $114.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 40.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MMC shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $227.60.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.