Welch & Forbes LLC Cuts Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 33.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,896 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MMC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $1,236,186,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 551.0% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,224,932 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $472,599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,146 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 32,120.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,515,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $369,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510,966 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,436,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 473.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 927,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $197,016,000 after purchasing an additional 765,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MMC. UBS Group increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $259.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 research note on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $281.00 price objective on the stock. 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, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $240.29.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE MMC traded up $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $212.47. 3,524,077 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,006,081. The business's 50 day moving average is $221.45 and its 200-day moving average is $224.64. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $207.21 and a 12-month high of $248.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.19% and a net margin of 16.13%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. This is an increase from Marsh & McLennan Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 24th. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.95%.

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.