Portland Global Advisors LLC Buys New Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MMC

Portland Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MMC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,158,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,092,108,000 after buying an additional 837,117 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,814,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,127,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,505,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,684,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,762,513,000 after acquiring an additional 196,475 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,328,587,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,345,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,060,362,000 after purchasing an additional 340,907 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:MMC opened at $183.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.18 and a 1-year high of $248.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $188.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.70.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.60% and a return on equity of 31.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 43.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 21,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.22, for a total transaction of $3,841,015.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,977,231.82. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $209.00 to $191.00 in a report on Friday, October 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $248.00 to $242.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $243.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies 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.