Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC Stock Position Reduced by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 23.8% in Q1, selling 233,583 shares and retaining around 0.15% ownership valued at $182.5 million.
• Marsh & McLennan reported a 12.1% revenue increase year-over-year, reaching $6.97 billion, and exceeded earnings expectations with $2.72 EPS compared to the estimate of $2.66.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.90, up from $0.82, with a current annualized dividend yield of 1.8%.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 23.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 748,006 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 233,583 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.15% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $182,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,321,445 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,059,792,000 after acquiring an additional 581,930 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,127,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,505,548 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,218,488 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,108,459,000 after buying an additional 609,602 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,581,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $973,214,000 after buying an additional 308,759 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,345,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,060,362,000 after buying an additional 340,907 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MMC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $229.00 to $226.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $249.00 to $233.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on 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. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $256.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Six 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. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.76.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMC traded down $0.33 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $205.48. The company had a trading volume of 2,892,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,261,629. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $209.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.27 and a fifty-two week high of $248.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.72 EPS 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 company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.41 earnings per share. Marsh & McLennan Companies's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 24th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Marsh & McLennan Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 24th. Marsh & McLennan Companies's payout ratio 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.