Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 576,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,608 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $109,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of MMC stock traded down $3.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $197.95. 1,783,604 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,810,961. The business’s fifty day moving average is $203.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $171.47 and a 12-month high of $209.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 16.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total value of $2,508,670.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,762,205.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total value of $305,582.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $611,374.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total value of $2,508,670.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,762,205.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MMC. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $189.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $207.69.

Marsh & McLennan Companies 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.