Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 31.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,784,190,000 after buying an additional 518,185 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,648,304,000 after buying an additional 251,361 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,530,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $954,712,000 after buying an additional 223,257 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,683,000 after buying an additional 85,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,999,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $892,309,000 after purchasing an additional 184,239 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total value of $553,875.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.60.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

NYSE:MMC opened at $212.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.96. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $188.31 and a 52 week high of $235.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $219.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.15.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.815 per share. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 40.15%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company 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.