Financial Advocates Investment Management Sells 1,812 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Financial Advocates Investment Management lessened its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 51.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,812 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 31,912.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 140,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,885,000 after purchasing an additional 139,775 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at $8,439,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.8% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 50,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,239,000 after purchasing an additional 7,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 96.1% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 10,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,116 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.00, for a total transaction of $1,566,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,224,348. This represents a 10.59% 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 Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total transaction of $313,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,344,571.98. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,105 shares of company stock valued at $10,796,353. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.6%

AJG stock opened at $248.72 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $239.47 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.25.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 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 was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AJG. Barclays downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $328.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $361.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.33.

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.