IFM Investors Pty Ltd Boosts Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,362 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $15,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $252,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 473.6% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 4,764 shares in the last quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 1,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 9,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,558,000 after buying an additional 1,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 683,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,928,000 after buying an additional 23,182 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,569,792. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $292.92 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $301.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $320.19. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $274.25 and a 12 month high of $351.23. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $75.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.61 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $317.00 target price on the stock. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $333.13.

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.