Hartline Investment Corp Grows Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Hartline Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Marsh & McLennan Companies makes up approximately 0.6% of Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $3,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MMC. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% in 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 in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in 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 valued at $221,078,000 after buying an additional 10,161 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the fourth quarter worth $1,381,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $2,825,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total value of $438,138.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,198. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total value of $438,138.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,868,198. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total transaction of $1,840,478.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,012,065.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,751 shares of company stock valued at $7,448,163 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded down $0.76 on Wednesday, reaching $200.95. 1,614,133 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,736,817. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $171.47 and a 1-year high of $209.20. The firm has a market cap of $99.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.90. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $203.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.04.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MMC. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $189.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $207.69.

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.