Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 839,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,624 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $187,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $829,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.9% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $279,000. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,756,030.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

NYSE MMC opened at $223.18 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $224.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.86. The company has a market cap of $109.61 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 3.29 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.28 and a 1 year high of $232.32.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.15%.

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.