Advyzon Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Key Points

• Advyzon Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 111.3% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,256 shares, bringing its total holdings to 2,384 shares worth $582,000.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings for Marsh & McLennan Companies, with target prices ranging from $210.00 to $261.00; the consensus rating is currently a "Hold" with a target price of $239.79.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.90 from $0.82, representing an annualized dividend of $3.60 and a yield of 1.8%.

Advyzon Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 111.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,384 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MMC. Stifel Financial Corp grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,883,146 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32,120.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,515,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $369,869,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510,966 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 153.6% in the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,370,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $578,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,044 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,719,830 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $790,129,000 after purchasing an additional 759,573 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,934,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,260,513,000 after acquiring an additional 726,713 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MMC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $249.00 to $233.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $261.00 to $258.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $239.79.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $203.10. 3,026,763 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,861,376. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.27 and a 1 year high of $248.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $214.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.89. The company has a market cap of $99.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Marsh & McLennan Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. Marsh & McLennan Companies's payout ratio is currently 43.17%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company 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.