Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Lowers Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH trimmed its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 49.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,621 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $3,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,236,186,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in 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 during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,072,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $860,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,807 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $207,278,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 473.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 927,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,016,000 after buying an additional 765,696 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.16, for a total value of $11,367,602.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,520,202.64. This trade represents a 63.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 worth $16,244,986 over the last quarter. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MMC. Barclays raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $246.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $281.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.93.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $227.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $229.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $201.77 and a 52-week high of $248.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.89 earnings per share. On average, 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.