Quantbot Technologies LP Takes Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 69,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,590,000. Marsh & McLennan Companies comprises approximately 0.6% of Quantbot Technologies LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,784,190,000 after purchasing an additional 518,185 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,530,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $954,712,000 after purchasing an additional 223,257 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,683,000 after buying an additional 85,754 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,409,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $718,368,000 after acquiring an additional 58,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% in the second quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $679,837,000 after acquiring an additional 40,182 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MMC. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $227.60.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MMC stock opened at $230.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.28 and a fifty-two week high of $232.32. The company has a market cap of $113.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $223.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.11.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is presently 40.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This trade represents a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company 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.