Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.0%, owning approximately 8.53 million shares valued at over $2 billion after the sale.
• Marsh & McLennan Companies reported a quarterly earnings-per-share of $2.72, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a 12.1% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.90, showing a commitment to returning value to shareholders with an annual yield of 1.7%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,527,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,623,779 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.73% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $2,080,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 54.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $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 in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 153.6% in the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,370,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $578,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $790,129,000 after acquiring an additional 759,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reduced 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 report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $226.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.76.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of MMC traded down $0.7270 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $210.3830. The company had a trading volume of 1,467,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,517,538. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $210.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.27 and a 1-year high of $248.00. The stock has a market cap of $103.43 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.77.

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 (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.17%.

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.