1248 Management LLC Acquires Shares of 5,107 Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,085,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,236,186,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 551.0% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,224,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $472,599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,146 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,072,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $860,824,000 after buying an additional 1,823,807 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 7,320.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,108,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $235,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $207,278,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,817.31. This represents a 31.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.16, for a total value of $11,367,602.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 28,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,520,202.64. The trade was a 63.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,634 shares of company stock worth $16,244,986 in the last quarter. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MMC. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $281.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $246.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $259.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.93.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of MMC opened at $224.11 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.72 and a 12-month high of $248.00. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $231.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.55. The stock has a market cap of $110.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.85.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.08 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.60% and a return on equity of 32.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.95%.

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.