NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ Increases Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the period. Marsh & McLennan Companies comprises about 0.4% of NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 225.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,051,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,803,000 after purchasing an additional 727,714 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 9.9% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 324,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,662,000 after buying an additional 29,247 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 18.7% in the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 218,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,692,000 after buying an additional 34,400 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,158,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,092,108,000 after acquiring an additional 837,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 48,212.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,629,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,845,000 after acquiring an additional 2,623,745 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $209.00 to $191.00 in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $226.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $227.69.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $177.19 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.18 and a 12 month high of $248.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.07. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 31.79% and a net margin of 15.60%.The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is presently 43.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total transaction of $4,334,896.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,031,597.65. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.