WCM Investment Management LLC Sells 32,664 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

WCM Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,431,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,664 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for approximately 1.5% of WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $743,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after purchasing an additional 685,278 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,743,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,439,207,000 after buying an additional 117,646 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,536,230,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,866,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $887,976,000 after buying an additional 593,483 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 94,940 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $245.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $253.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $275.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $236.34 and a 1-year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,284,995. This trade represents a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865 over the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AJG. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial set a $271.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $311.00 to $298.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.