Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Boosts Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $7,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 14,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 1,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MMC shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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, April 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $207.69.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded up $2.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $201.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,254,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,731,436. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $202.80 and a 200 day moving average of $197.56. 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 company has a market capitalization of $99.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 16.84%. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.53 earnings per share. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total transaction of $2,508,670.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,762,205.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.35% 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.