Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Grows Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 129,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,386 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $44,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Allred Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Allred Capital Management LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. City Holding Co. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 7,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% during the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total value of $3,540,285.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 91,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,741,474.75. This trade represents a 10.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total value of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,510 shares of company stock valued at $11,033,341 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $312.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $80.15 billion, a PE ratio of 48.00 and a beta of 0.74. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $251.42 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $331.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.09.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 37.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.29.

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.