Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Has $583,000 Stock Position in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 18.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.7% in the second quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 3.7% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.6% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMC has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $236.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $255.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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 company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $232.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.33.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of MMC stock opened at $221.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $224.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $108.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $184.28 and a 12 month high of $232.32.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.7 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.815 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s payout ratio is currently 40.15%.

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.