Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Reduces Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,885 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $20,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MMC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $1,236,186,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $472,599,000 after buying an additional 1,883,146 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32,120.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,515,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $369,869,000 after buying an additional 1,510,966 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 153.6% during 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 buying an additional 1,436,044 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 473.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 927,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $197,016,000 after buying an additional 765,696 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $229.00 to $226.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $261.00 to $258.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays decreased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $249.00 to $233.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $239.79.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

MMC stock traded up $2.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $210.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,290,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,449,143. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $207.21 and a 1 year high of $248.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $103.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.80. The company's fifty day moving average is $219.49 and its 200-day moving average is $224.61.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 16.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.90 per share. 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. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.