Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Holdings Raised by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 196.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,013 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,278,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,575,881,000 after acquiring an additional 31,821 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,145,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,169,403,000 after purchasing an additional 150,655 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,979,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,137,960,000 after purchasing an additional 271,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.6% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,277,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $623,723,000 after purchasing an additional 83,785 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $189.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, April 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $207.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total value of $2,508,670.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,762,205.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 transaction 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 approximately $6,762,205.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total value of $1,840,478.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,012,065.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MMC traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $204.21. 205,009 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,706,980. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $202.81 and its 200-day moving average is $197.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.47 and a 52 week high of $209.20. The company has a market cap of $100.62 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 3.31 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities research analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

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.