AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 7,515 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 335,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,515 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $70,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Marsh & McLennan Companies during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 100.0% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 87.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MMC. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.53.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

MMC stock opened at $223.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.02 and a 52-week high of $232.32. The company has a market capitalization of $110.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $223.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.98.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.31 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.92% and a net margin of 16.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is 41.37%.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $477,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,609,420. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $477,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,609,420. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 4,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.77, for a total value of $925,882.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares in the company, valued at $659,925.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,735 shares of company stock worth $4,897,317. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies 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.