Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) is Waverton Investment Management Ltd's 7th Largest Position

Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,104,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 50,167 shares during the period. Marsh & McLennan Companies comprises about 4.0% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Waverton Investment Management Ltd owned 0.22% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $246,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MMC. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,804 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,431,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 148,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,666,000 after purchasing an additional 4,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $236.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $225.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total value of $553,875.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Up 0.6 %

MMC traded up $1.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $225.24. 1,772,049 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,688,657. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $184.28 and a one year high of $232.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.62 billion, a PE ratio of 27.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $224.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.45.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.15%.

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.