Xponance Inc. Grows Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,653 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $25,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 343.3% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 2.1 %

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded up $4.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $201.73. The company had a trading volume of 3,537,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,709,158. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $202.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.69. The firm has a market cap of $99.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.90. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $171.47 and a 12-month high of $209.20.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 16.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.53 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 37.72%.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,374.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,461 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.16, for a total transaction of $305,582.76. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $611,374.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 12,494 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total value of $2,508,670.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $6,762,205.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock worth $7,448,163. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.73.

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.