Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Sells 2,260 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. cut its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 24,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,260 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 133,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,661,000 after purchasing an additional 7,946 shares in the last quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 78,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,302,000 after buying an additional 8,539 shares in the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $3,571,000. GuoLine Advisory Pte Ltd bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,561,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 154,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,965,000 after acquiring an additional 44,824 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Citigroup raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 3.2%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $255.72 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $316.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $220.23 and a 200 day moving average of $225.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company’s revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.