Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 234,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,824 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.09% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $75,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 54,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,684,000 after buying an additional 6,882 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23.5% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 225,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,811,000 after acquiring an additional 42,912 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.0% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 130,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,078,000 after acquiring an additional 4,982 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth $256,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% in the first quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total value of $313,425.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,344,571.98. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 37,105 shares of company stock worth $10,796,353 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of AJG stock opened at $248.72 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $239.47 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The company has a market cap of $63.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $300.25.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 38.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Wall Street Zen cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $291.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $328.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.