Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $1,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MMC. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 45,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,041 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 1,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. HTLF Bank acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth $278,000. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter worth $73,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 5,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.03, for a total transaction of $1,170,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,578,560.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 5,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.03, for a total value of $1,170,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,578,560.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.01, for a total transaction of $1,254,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,159,670.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,735 shares of company stock valued at $6,151,377 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC opened at $222.40 on Monday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.02 and a fifty-two week high of $227.63. The company has a market capitalization of $109.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.31 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.815 per share. This is a boost from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MMC shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $189.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $214.25.

Marsh & McLennan Companies 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.