Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Position Lowered by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio decreased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 196,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,984 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $37,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Markel Corp raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.5% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 618,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $105,456,000 after purchasing an additional 9,300 shares during the period. United Bank increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.9% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 7,580 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.9% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 37,526 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,395,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 43.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,188 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.5% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,066 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total value of $305,582.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total transaction of $438,138.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at $2,868,198. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,374.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163 over the last quarter. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $212.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $204.29.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

NYSE MMC traded down $0.75 during trading on Monday, reaching $197.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,440,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,696,845. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $171.47 and a twelve month high of $209.20. The firm has a market cap of $97.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.90. The business's fifty day moving average price is $202.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.05. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 16.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.72%.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc, a professional services company, provides advice and solutions to clients in the areas of risk, strategy, and people worldwide. It operates through Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment offers risk management services, such as risk advice, risk transfer, and risk control and mitigation solutions, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking, strategic advisory services, and analytics solutions, and insurance program management services.