Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 29.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,505 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $6,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 223,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,602,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,180,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,078,000 after purchasing an additional 10,161 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,381,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,825,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:MMC opened at $201.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $203.07 and its 200 day moving average is $197.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.90. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $171.47 and a fifty-two week high of $209.20.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 36.04%.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 9,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $2,048,770.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $4,291,675. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 9,994 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $2,048,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,291,675. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total value of $305,582.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $207.69.

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.