Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC Shares Acquired by LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 58.7% in Q2, bringing its holdings to 3,554 shares valued at $777,000.
• Institutional investors collectively own 87.99% of Marsh & McLennan Companies, with significant stake increases from Vanguard Group, Wellington Management, and Goldman Sachs.
• Marsh & McLennan recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, with a payout ratio of 43.17%, to be paid on November 14th.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,314 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% during 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 buying an additional 581,930 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,127,193,000 after buying an additional 4,505,548 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,345,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,060,362,000 after buying an additional 340,907 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth $1,038,594,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,858,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $697,471,000 after purchasing an additional 65,778 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $229.00 to $226.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $226.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $256.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.76.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.8%

MMC opened at $201.25 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.01 and a fifty-two week high of $248.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $202.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.13, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.81.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $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 year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 43.17%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total transaction of $4,334,896.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies 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.

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