Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 1,851 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,851 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $13,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 136.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,180 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 1,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 19,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,042,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 88,052 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP now owns 3,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMC has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $259.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $237.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $246.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $241.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC stock traded down $1.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $224.11. 2,313,039 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,881,574. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.72 and a twelve month high of $248.00. The company has a market capitalization of $110.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $231.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.58. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.04. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio is 39.95%.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.