Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Acquired by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 5.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $5,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4,261.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 305,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,109,000 after acquiring an additional 298,300 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the third quarter worth $313,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.9% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.4% in the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,260,000 after buying an additional 3,535 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total value of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,756,030.95. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MMC shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Monday. Bank of America upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $227.60.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MMC stock opened at $232.77 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $184.28 and a 1-year high of $233.48. The firm has a market cap of $114.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.15%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Profile

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc, a professional services company, provides advice and solutions to clients in the areas of risk, strategy, and people worldwide. It operates through Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment offers risk management services, such as risk advice, risk transfer, and risk control and mitigation solutions, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking, strategic advisory services, and analytics solutions, and insurance program management services.