Moody National Bank Trust Division Has $1.17 Million Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Moody National Bank Trust Division lowered its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 35.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,517 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bath Savings Trust Co grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 36,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,325,000 after purchasing an additional 4,170 shares during the last quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 78,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,302,000 after purchasing an additional 8,539 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 24,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,261,000 after purchasing an additional 3,826 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 373.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,078,000 after purchasing an additional 24,625 shares during the period. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 144.7% in the 4th quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 2,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 1,244 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Evercore dropped their target price 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $213.94 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.67. 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 $195.00 and a 1 year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 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 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 company’s revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.