Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Acquires 8,939 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 117,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,939 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $26,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,530,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $954,712,000 after purchasing an additional 223,257 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,683,000 after buying an additional 85,754 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,409,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $718,368,000 after buying an additional 58,461 shares in the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% during the second quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $679,837,000 after buying an additional 40,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,703,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $603,205,000 after acquiring an additional 30,367 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE MMC opened at $229.63 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $112.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $184.28 and a 1-year high of $232.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $223.67 and a 200-day moving average of $218.93.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is presently 40.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $227.60.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.