Citigroup Inc. Trims Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Citigroup Inc. lowered its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 4.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 512,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,173 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $96,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nilsine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 6,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 6,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Dfpg Investments LLC increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 8,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $226.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 20th. Bank of America upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $189.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, July 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $201.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CMO John Jude Jones sold 4,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $947,636.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 7,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,540,392.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CMO John Jude Jones sold 4,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $947,636.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 7,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,540,392.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.90, for a total value of $584,700.00. Following 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. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $198.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $97.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $151.86 and a 52-week high of $201.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $193.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.68.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 34.01% and a net margin of 15.61%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 7.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 6th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.92%.

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.