New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 773,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 67,138 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.16% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $146,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 223,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,602,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,180,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,078,000 after purchasing an additional 10,161 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,381,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,825,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded down $0.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $201.01. 452,294 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,719,266. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.98. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $171.47 and a 52-week high of $209.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.90.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total value of $438,138.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at $2,868,198. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total value of $438,138.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at $2,868,198. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 9,994 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $2,048,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $4,291,675. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163 over the last 90 days. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler cut shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $211.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $207.69.

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.