Franklin Resources Inc. Has $36.82 Million Stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 8.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 161,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,828 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $36,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.0% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 29,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,903,000 after buying an additional 1,911 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management grew its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 1,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 204.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 5,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the third quarter worth about $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.13.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

NYSE:MMC opened at $209.89 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.28 and a 52-week high of $235.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $103.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.