Heritage Investment Group Inc. Buys Shares of 941 Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Heritage Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 85.7% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 100.0% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 712.5% during the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMC traded up $0.64 on Friday, hitting $222.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,930,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,689,079. The business has a 50 day moving average of $224.31 and a 200 day moving average of $217.89. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.28 and a 52-week high of $232.32. The company has a market cap of $109.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 3.36 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) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.15%.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total value of $553,875.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MMC. UBS Group upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $211.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.33.

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 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.