Ascent Group LLC Has $3.47 Million Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Ascent Group LLC increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,407 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $3,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingfisher Capital LLC grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,887,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, X Square Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MMC. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.53.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $223.94 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $184.02 and a one year high of $232.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.31 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.92% and a net margin of 16.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $477,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,609,420. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $477,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,609,420. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $2,324,098.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,625,035.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,735 shares of company stock valued at $4,897,317. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.