Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 759,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,938 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $169,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MMC. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the second quarter worth $3,710,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 100,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,348,000 after purchasing an additional 6,282 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 925,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,003,000 after buying an additional 23,133 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.8% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 68,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,086,000 after buying an additional 5,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 236.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 55,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,431,000 after acquiring an additional 39,013 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MMC opened at $222.14 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.28 and a 52-week high of $232.32. The stock has a market cap of $109.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $224.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on MMC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the 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 directly owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is 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.