Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. $MRSH Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio lessened its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MRSH) by 98.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 169,134 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 14,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,022,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MRSH shares. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $181.00 to $174.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $226.00 to $206.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $205.00.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $163.22 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.50 and a 12-month high of $235.78. The stock has a market cap of $78.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $172.64.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MRSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 31.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO John Q. Doyle sold 16,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.30, for a total transaction of $3,052,861.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 116,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,411,456.30. This trade represents a 12.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Profile

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC) is a global professional services firm headquartered in New York City that provides advice and solutions in the areas of risk, strategy and people. Founded in 1905, the company has grown into a diversified group of businesses focused on insurance brokerage and risk management, reinsurance, human capital and investment consulting, and management consulting. Its long history and scale position it as a prominent adviser to corporations, governments and other institutions seeking to manage risk and optimize human and financial capital.

The firm operates through several well-known subsidiaries and business units that specialize in distinct services.