Ascent Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Ascent Group LLC cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 22.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,409 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $382,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $228,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 54.1% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $369.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $344.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $328.80.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $310.95 on Monday. 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 market cap of $79.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.17 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $297.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $275.56 and a 1 year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.93%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.