Hills Bank & Trust Co Raises Stock Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Hills Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $2,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 worth $4,784,190,000 after purchasing an additional 518,185 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,648,304,000 after acquiring an additional 251,361 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% during 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 last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,072,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $860,824,000 after buying an additional 1,823,807 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,999,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $892,309,000 after buying an additional 184,239 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $231.71 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $223.62. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.17 and a 12-month high of $241.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $113.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 7,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total value of $1,673,221.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,919,096.95. The trade was a 25.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total transaction of $309,455.49. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,817.31. This trade represents a 31.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 57,828 shares of company stock worth $13,350,279. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Profile

Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc is a professional services firm, which engages in offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy, and people. It operates through the Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment is involved in risk management activities, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking and services.