Reliant Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

Key Points

• Reliant Investment Management LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 90.3% during the second quarter, owning only 2,411 shares after selling 22,493 shares.
• Research firms have adjusted their ratings on Marsh & McLennan Companies, with UBS Group cutting its price target from $258 to $257 while maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Marsh & McLennan recently reported quarterly earnings, beating estimates with $1.85 earnings per share and $6.35 billion revenue for the quarter, representing an 11.5% increase from the previous year.

Reliant Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 90.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 22,493 shares during the period. Reliant Investment Management LLC's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $11,059,792,000 after buying an additional 581,930 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,345,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,060,362,000 after buying an additional 340,907 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth about $1,038,594,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,858,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $697,471,000 after acquiring an additional 65,778 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MMC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $258.00 to $257.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $234.07.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

MMC stock opened at $189.24 on Thursday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $185.12 and a 1 year high of $248.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.18.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 31.79% and a net margin of 15.60%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.90 dividend. 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 1.9%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.17%.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

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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