Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Has $580,000 Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 15.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,917,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,046,079,000 after purchasing an additional 119,236 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,624,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,188,348,000 after acquiring an additional 380,828 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,530,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $954,712,000 after acquiring an additional 223,257 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,409,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $718,368,000 after acquiring an additional 58,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $679,837,000 after acquiring an additional 40,182 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MMC. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $225.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

MMC traded up $0.70 during trading on Monday, hitting $222.01. 117,973 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,677,314. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $225.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.74. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.28 and a fifty-two week high of $232.32. The stock has a market cap of $109.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $2,324,098.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $7,625,035.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 5,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.03, for a total value of $1,170,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares in the company, valued at $7,578,560.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 10,265 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total transaction of $2,324,098.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,625,035.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,566 shares of company stock worth $4,420,137 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company 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.