WINTON GROUP Ltd Makes New Investment in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MMC. Markel Corp raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.5% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 618,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,456,000 after purchasing an additional 9,300 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.9% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 7,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.9% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 37,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,395,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 43.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $714,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.5% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. 86.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.90, for a total value of $584,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 63,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,281,038.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 70,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.53, for a total value of $13,006,766.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,248,279.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.90, for a total transaction of $584,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 63,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,281,038.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,082 shares of company stock worth $16,085,453 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $192.90 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $189.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.16. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.11 and a 1-year high of $197.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.08. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.20% and a return on equity of 33.69%. The firm had revenue of $5.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 27th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 26th. This is a positive change from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MMC. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $182.00 to $197.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $199.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $189.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.23.

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 in two segments, Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting. 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.