Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 24,624 Shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 839,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,624 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $187,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,445,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,784,190,000 after acquiring an additional 518,185 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,304,000 after purchasing an additional 251,361 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,530,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $954,712,000 after buying an additional 223,257 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,274,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $953,683,000 after buying an additional 85,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,409,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $718,368,000 after buying an additional 58,461 shares during the last quarter. 87.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $210.35 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $223.17 and a 200-day moving average of $220.87. The stock has a market cap of $103.31 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.28 and a fifty-two week high of $235.50.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 owns 48,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MMC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.13.

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.