KBC Group NV Has $48.40 Million Stock Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 130.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 122,880 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $48,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4,991.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 693,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $146,047,000 after acquiring an additional 679,474 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at about $118,353,000. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter worth about $95,139,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 31,846.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 427,764 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $95,430,000 after purchasing an additional 426,425 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 380,828 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.3 %

Marsh & McLennan Companies stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $222.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,923,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,689,079. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $224.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.72. The firm has a market cap of $109.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $184.28 and a twelve month high of $232.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The company'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 earned $1.57 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.815 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's payout ratio is 40.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MMC shares. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $225.33.

Insider Activity

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies 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.