Jennison Associates LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 43.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 522,377 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 402,113 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.11% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $116,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the first 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 buying an additional 380,828 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $953,683,000 after purchasing an additional 85,754 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,409,110 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $718,368,000 after purchasing an additional 58,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,258 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $679,837,000 after buying an additional 40,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of MMC stock opened at $221.96 on Thursday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.28 and a 52-week high of $232.32. 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 stock has a market cap of $109.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $218.49.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MMC shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $236.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $225.33.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,756,030.95. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

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.