Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Stock Holdings Boosted by Transcend Capital Advisors LLC

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $4,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 7,320.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,108,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $235,511,000 after buying an additional 1,093,817 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,784,190,000 after acquiring an additional 518,185 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 127.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 899,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $200,718,000 after buying an additional 504,897 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 31,846.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 427,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,430,000 after purchasing an additional 426,425 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 219.5% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 529,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,068,000 after purchasing an additional 363,569 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $242.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMC opened at $230.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $217.92 and a 200 day moving average of $222.15. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.17 and a 52 week high of $235.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market capitalization of $113.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.96.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 39.80%.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.