West Coast Financial LLC Decreases Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

West Coast Financial LLC reduced its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,332 shares during the period. Marsh & McLennan Companies makes up about 1.9% of West Coast Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. West Coast Financial LLC's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $16,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,999,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $892,309,000 after acquiring an additional 184,239 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,856,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,366,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $638,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $281.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $246.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $241.93.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.00, for a total transaction of $550,302.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,326,412. The trade was a 14.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total transaction of $309,455.49. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $686,817.31. The trade was a 31.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,634 shares of company stock worth $16,244,986 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded down $3.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $228.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,764,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,924,350. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $228.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.60. The firm has a market cap of $112.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.83. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $207.06 and a fifty-two week high of $248.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.08 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.60% and a return on equity of 32.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.89 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. 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.