New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $153.48 Million Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 628,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 41,969 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.13% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $153,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,739,515 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,503,120,000 after buying an additional 356,618 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,050,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,554,841,000 after purchasing an additional 145,134 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,151,020 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,156,179,000 after purchasing an additional 96,750 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 14.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 726,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $1,236,186,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MMC. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $259.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $240.50.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded up $1.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $213.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 403,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,188,220. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business's fifty day moving average price is $222.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.83. The firm has a market cap of $105.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.80. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $207.21 and a one year high of $248.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.08 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.19% and a net margin of 16.13%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.89 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 24th. This is an increase from Marsh & McLennan Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

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.