Royal Bank of Canada Purchases 111,807 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,447,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 111,807 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.50% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $519,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 7,121 shares of the company'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 $1,673,221.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $4,919,096.95. This represents a 25.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.00, for a total value of $550,302.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,326,412. The trade was a 14.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,634 shares of company stock worth $16,244,986 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MMC shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $246.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $281.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $241.93.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded down $1.04 on Tuesday, hitting $230.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,479,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,915,806. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.77 and a twelve month high of $248.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $229.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.96. The stock has a market cap of $113.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $2.89 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies's payout ratio is presently 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.