Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Purchased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.06% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $46,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares during the period. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% during the second quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% in 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, Cincinnati Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth $42,824,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,472,271.97. This represents a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $4,041,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,284,995. This represents a 16.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 24,850 shares of company stock worth $6,364,440 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $228.40 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $58.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.14, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $239.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.15. 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 12 month low of $195.00 and a 12 month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 45.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $311.00 to $298.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target 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, February 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.76.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.