Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Has $242.18 Million Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 19.9% during the first quarter, owning about 0.20% of the company valued at approximately $242 million.
• Marsh & McLennan reported $2.72 earnings per share for the latest quarter, beating expectations and demonstrating a 12.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.82 to $0.90 per share, reflecting a strong payout ratio of 43.17%.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 19.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 992,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 164,855 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.20% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $242,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MMC. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 61.0% in the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on MMC shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $261.00 to $258.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays decreased 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 research report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $256.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $226.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.76.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:MMC traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $206.34. 2,190,301 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,200,016. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $209.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.59. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.27 and a 12 month high of $248.00.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.06. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 16.00%.The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Marsh & McLennan Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 24th. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.17%.

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.