Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 19.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,257 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $12,934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 85.7% during the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 100.0% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 712.5% in the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MMC opened at $227.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $111.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $223.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $218.72. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.28 and a 52-week high of $232.32. 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 released its quarterly 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 net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MMC. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $226.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

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.