James Hambro & Partners LLP Sells 15,000 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

James Hambro & Partners LLP reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,000 shares during the quarter. James Hambro & Partners LLP’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,587,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.1% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 149,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,389,000 after acquiring an additional 9,966 shares during the period. Gtcr LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth $514,112,000. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 193,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,433,000 after purchasing an additional 22,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at $5,848,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AJG. Argus raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $267.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $291.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.74.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE AJG traded down $2.85 during trading on Monday, reaching $252.03. 358,010 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,876,245. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $246.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.29. The company has a market cap of $64.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $190.75 and a 1-year high of $284.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 9.96%. The company’s revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.17 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher Mead sold 3,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $899,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,711,755.46. This trade represents a 13.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott Hudson sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.13, for a total transaction of $3,169,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 90,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,840,902.06. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 28,500 shares of company stock valued at $7,562,950 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting company. The firm helps businesses, public entities and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance and related services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting, wholesale brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, claims administration and risk management consulting. Gallagher places commercial and personal insurance coverage and provides services related to property and casualty risks, health care, benefits, and other specialized insurance needs.

Founded in 1927 by Arthur J.