Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC - Free Report) by 197.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,380 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $2,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 518,185 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% during the second 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 lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $953,683,000 after acquiring an additional 85,754 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.99% of the company's stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MMC traded down $2.58 on Tuesday, reaching $215.59. 2,357,334 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,702,911. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $224.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.65. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $184.28 and a 52 week high of $235.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Marsh & McLennan Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.15%.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $10,756,030.95. This trade represents a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MMC shares. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $242.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $227.60.

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.