2,501 Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Purchased by Scratch Capital LLC

Scratch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $775,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up 0.5% of Scratch Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,758 shares during the last quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth approximately $812,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 735,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $762,473,000 after purchasing an additional 94,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. UBS Group lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $329.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $328.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.22.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total value of $313,425.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,344,571.98. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $247.12 per share, with a total value of $988,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 41,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,341,724.88. This represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,100 shares of company stock worth $5,921,175. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $258.70 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $236.34 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $66.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $256.59 and a 200 day moving average of $287.95.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.86%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.