Lafayette Investments Inc. Has $4.48 Million Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Lafayette Investments Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,950 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $4,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 31,846.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 427,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,430,000 after buying an additional 426,425 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Courier Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 10,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,234,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $225.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $223.48. The stock had a trading volume of 134,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,675,534. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $184.02 and a one year high of $232.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $110.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $225.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.39.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.73 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is presently 41.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 5,200 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.03, for a total value of $1,170,156.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,578,560.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 5,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.03, for a total value of $1,170,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,578,560.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total value of $925,882.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,925.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,566 shares of company stock worth $4,420,137 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.