Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 224,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,787 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for approximately 3.0% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $71,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,499,185,000 after buying an additional 739,130 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,997,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815,007 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,959,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,798,000 after purchasing an additional 137,354 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,364,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $816,409,000 after purchasing an additional 9,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,336,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $796,217,000 after purchasing an additional 7,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $301.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $77.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.86 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $299.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $315.45. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $275.56 and a 52 week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.43.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.