Balentine LLC decreased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Free Report) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 505 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Norges Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $1,431,788,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $418,715,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,143,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $404,069,000 after buying an additional 619,008 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $116,254,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 583.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 456,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,113,000 after purchasing an additional 389,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.55% of the company’s stock.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.2 %
AJG stock opened at $227.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.05 billion, a PE ratio of 44.37, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.70. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $167.93 and a 1-year high of $229.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $218.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.59.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 12.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.88%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $238.00 to $245.00 in a report on Friday, June 16th. Argus lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $228.00 to $232.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. StockNews.com began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, VNET Group reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, May 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.08.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on AJG
Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
In other news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $561,632.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,157.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $561,632.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,157.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.40, for a total value of $216,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,538 shares in the company, valued at $10,070,823.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to businesses and organizations worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.
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