Ninety One UK Ltd Reduces Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Ninety One UK Ltd decreased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 927,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 84,063 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd owned approximately 0.19% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $175,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,423,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,696,223,000 after purchasing an additional 61,408 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 105,777.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,772,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,156,000 after buying an additional 9,763,286 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,278,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,575,881,000 after purchasing an additional 31,821 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,293,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,503,000 after buying an additional 2,075,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,979,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,137,960,000 after acquiring an additional 271,408 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total transaction of $1,840,478.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,012,065.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,868,198. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total value of $1,840,478.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,979 shares in the company, valued at $2,012,065.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $212.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.73.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC traded up $5.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $203.43. 1,618,745 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,698,392. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $202.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.90. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $171.47 and a 52-week high of $209.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 33.72%. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is presently 37.72%.

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.