Capital International Inc. CA Buys 42,084 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Capital International Inc. CA raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 24.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 215,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,084 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA owned approximately 0.08% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $66,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $311.00 to $298.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $289.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 4.5%

AJG stock opened at $217.87 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $195.00 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $238.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,650 shares of company stock valued at $8,137,686. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.