Capital Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 11,364 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

Key Points

• Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired an additional 11,364 shares of Marsh & McLennan in the second quarter, increasing its holdings to a total of 124,742 shares valued at approximately $27.27 million.
• Analysts have set an average price target for Marsh & McLennan at $238.76, with mixed ratings: six analysts classified it as a Buy, ten as Hold, and two as Sell.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.90, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.8% for investors of record on October 2.

Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 10.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,742 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,364 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $27,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 54.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,814,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,127,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,505,548 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,038,594,000. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in 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 worth $578,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436,044 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5,035.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 808,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $176,836,000 after purchasing an additional 793,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,321,445 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,059,792,000 after purchasing an additional 581,930 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $226.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target 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. Finally, Barclays cut 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 report on Monday, July 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.76.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MMC opened at $199.99 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $203.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.40. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.01 and a 1 year high of $248.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.81.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.41 earnings per share. Marsh & McLennan Companies's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total transaction of $4,334,896.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,031,597.65. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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