Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $5.64 Million Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,907 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $5,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,784,190,000 after buying an additional 518,185 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,304,000 after acquiring an additional 251,361 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,072,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $860,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,807 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,999,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $892,309,000 after purchasing an additional 184,239 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,286,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $698,170,000 after purchasing an additional 71,990 shares in the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total value of $309,455.49. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,817.31. This represents a 31.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.16, for a total value of $11,367,602.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 28,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,520,202.64. This represents a 63.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,828 shares of company stock worth $13,350,279. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

MMC opened at $232.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.23 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.17 and a 52-week high of $241.84.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its 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 net margin of 16.60% and a return on equity of 32.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.80%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company 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.