Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Reduces Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 135,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75,320 shares during the quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $29,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,158,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,092,108,000 after buying an additional 837,117 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 54.2% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,814,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,127,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,505,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,684,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,762,513,000 after acquiring an additional 196,475 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,345,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,060,362,000 after purchasing an additional 340,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth about $1,038,594,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MMC shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $243.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target (down previously from $243.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $227.69.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $181.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $88.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.46. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.18 and a 1-year high of $248.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.60% and a return on equity of 31.79%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 2nd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 43.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total value of $4,334,896.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,031,597.65. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.