LGT Capital Partners LTD. Acquires 8,762 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

LGT Capital Partners LTD. grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,762 shares during the quarter. Marsh & McLennan Companies makes up 1.6% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $35,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2,775.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 363.3% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MMC. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $226.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $209.00 to $191.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $258.00 to $257.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.65, for a total value of $4,334,896.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,031,597.65. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $182.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.78. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.18 and a 1-year high of $248.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $193.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 43.17%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Profile

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.