Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 6,471 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 12.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,471 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $13,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MMC. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

NYSE MMC opened at $227.82 on Monday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.28 and a 52-week high of $232.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $111.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $223.67 and a 200-day moving average of $218.93.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MMC. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment 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, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.