LGT Capital Partners LTD. Cuts Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. decreased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 165,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Marsh & McLennan Companies makes up approximately 1.3% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $35,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.6% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,812,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,200,000 after acquiring an additional 95,540 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.9% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,537,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 100.0% in the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 15.7% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 1,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MMC. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $242.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

NYSE MMC opened at $235.40 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.17 and a 12-month high of $241.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.