Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,173,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 76,768 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.16% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $9,655,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 89,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,735,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795 shares in the last quarter. Pelham Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth $13,837,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 90,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,993,000 after acquiring an additional 3,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 66,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,567,000 after purchasing an additional 8,401 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $208.22 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $195.00 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $248.78 and its 200 day moving average is $270.03. The company has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AJG. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Evercore lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

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

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,100 shares of company stock worth $6,677,865. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.