Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Sold by Morton Community Bank

Morton Community Bank cut its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. Marsh & McLennan Companies makes up about 1.1% of Morton Community Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $4,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $4,784,190,000 after buying an additional 518,185 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% in the second 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 during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $953,683,000 after purchasing an additional 85,754 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,409,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $718,368,000 after purchasing an additional 58,461 shares during the period. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $679,837,000 after purchasing an additional 40,182 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MMC shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $227.60.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMC opened at $233.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.28 and a 1 year high of $235.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.79. The firm has a market cap of $114.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 40.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $10,756,030.95. This trade represents a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% 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.