Nomura Holdings Inc. Grows Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 1,376.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,084 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $3,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Louisbourg Investments Inc. raised 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 worth $1,744,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 191,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,679,000 after purchasing an additional 16,464 shares during the last quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,635,000. Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 19,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555 shares during the period. Finally, Bell Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Bell Asset Management Ltd now owns 32,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,896,000 after buying an additional 3,595 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 brokerages recently weighed in on MMC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $246.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $241.93.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $227.14 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.77 and a 52 week high of $248.00. The company has a market capitalization of $111.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $229.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 39.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,817.31. This represents a 31.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 7,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $4,919,096.95. This trade represents a 25.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,634 shares of company stock valued at $16,244,986 over the last quarter. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.