Kestra Advisory Services LLC Acquires 25,415 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 159.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,415 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $8,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 10,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,604,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.53.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 3.1%

NYSE:AJG opened at $260.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $190.75 and a one year high of $316.71. The company has a market cap of $67.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.23, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $217.19 and a 200-day moving average of $225.65.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.