MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $31.86 Million Stock Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.9%, selling 2,465 shares, and now holds 130,539 shares valued at approximately $31.85 million.
• Marsh & McLennan reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.72, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.1%.
• The company announced a boosted quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, increasing from the previous dividend of $0.82, which represents an annualized yield of 1.7%.

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,539 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,465 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $31,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MMC. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 worth $3,127,193,000 after buying an additional 4,505,548 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth $1,038,594,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32,120.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,515,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $369,869,000 after buying an additional 1,510,966 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 153.6% during the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,370,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $578,517,000 after buying an additional 1,436,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,719,830 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $790,129,000 after buying an additional 759,573 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MMC shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $261.00 to $258.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.76.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $206.49. 1,383,617 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,284,893. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.27 and a twelve month high of $248.00. The company has a market capitalization of $101.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.41 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost 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 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.