Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Increases Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,151,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 96,750 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $2,156,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alta Advisers Ltd raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 1,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,234,000 after acquiring an additional 5,018 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 551.0% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,224,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,146 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 94,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,171,000 after purchasing an additional 8,246 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 31,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,662,000 after purchasing an additional 11,806 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $259.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.93.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 7,121 shares of the business’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 $1,673,221.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $4,919,096.95. The trade was a 25.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.00, for a total value of $550,302.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,522 shares in the company, valued at $3,326,412. This represents a 14.20 % 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 3.5 %

MMC opened at $219.61 on Wednesday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.72 and a 12 month high of $248.00. The firm has a market cap of $108.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.85. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $232.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.70.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.04. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 39.95%.

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.