Parallel Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Parallel Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 251,361 shares in the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 67.2% in the fourth quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 8,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,744,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 508,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,384,000 after acquiring an additional 23,445 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 197.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,480,000 after acquiring an additional 7,380 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 85,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,461,000 after purchasing an additional 3,553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on MMC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MMC stock opened at $232.01 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $225.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.17 and a 1-year high of $241.84. The firm has a market cap of $113.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.80%.

Insider Activity

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company 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.