Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 375 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $6,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MMC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 54.2% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,814,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,127,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,505,548 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,038,594,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32,120.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,515,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $369,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510,966 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 153.6% during the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,370,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $578,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5,035.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 808,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $176,836,000 after buying an additional 793,052 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $256.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $261.00 to $258.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $229.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.76.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $197.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $97.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.01 and a 52-week high of $248.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $204.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.02.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 16.00%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 43.17%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total value of $4,334,896.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at $18,031,597.65. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.