Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New Investment in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,259,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $807,060,000 after acquiring an additional 11,459 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,180,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,078,000 after buying an additional 10,161 shares during the period. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. now owns 1,404,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,134,000 after buying an additional 203,017 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 4th quarter worth $3,465,000. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.13, for a total transaction of $455,771.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,737,993.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 6,000 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.01, for a total transaction of $1,254,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 53,393 shares in the company, valued at $11,159,670.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.13, for a total transaction of $455,771.97. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,737,993.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MMC. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $189.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $185.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.47.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock opened at $211.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $104.45 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.81 and a 1 year high of $216.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.33.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 16.84%. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.53 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.