Mechanics Bank Trust Department Cuts Stock Holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department trimmed its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 444 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $3,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MMC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 105,777.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,772,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,156,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763,286 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter worth $659,049,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,293,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,928 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 145.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,262,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $539,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,935,638 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 331.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,830,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,293 shares during the period. 86.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $189.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $202.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $195.00 to $199.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $182.00 to $197.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 70,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 29th. The stock was 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 owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,248,279.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 12,976 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.20, for a total transaction of $2,493,987.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,023,707. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark C. Mcgivney sold 70,106 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,248,279.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,082 shares of company stock valued at $16,085,453 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $196.19 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.11 and a 12 month high of $198.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $191.59 and a 200-day moving average of $179.88.

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

Marsh & McLennan Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 27th were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 26th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. 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%.

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 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.