Man Group plc Has $17.12 Million Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Man Group plc reduced its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,990 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $17,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $1,236,186,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 551.0% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,224,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,146 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,823,807 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $207,278,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 473.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 927,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,016,000 after purchasing an additional 765,696 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,520,202.64. The trade was a 63.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 7,121 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,919,096.95. This represents a 25.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,634 shares of company stock worth $16,244,986 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MMC. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $246.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $259.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.93.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $231.44 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.77 and a 52 week high of $248.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $229.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $114.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.85.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its 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. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.60% and a return on equity of 32.60%. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 39.95%.

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.