Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC Holdings Lifted by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 45,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,922 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $9,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2,775.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,031,597.65. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $261.00 to $258.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $229.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.76.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

NYSE MMC opened at $196.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $96.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.08. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.01 and a twelve month high of $248.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.17%.

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.