Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys 4,557 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 445,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,557 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $137,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.5% in the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 111,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,842,000 after buying an additional 3,830 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth approximately $145,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 590,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $189,018,000 after acquiring an additional 26,157 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total transaction of $1,032,440.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. This trade represents a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total value of $1,290,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 24,850 shares of company stock valued at $6,364,440 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.8%

AJG opened at $216.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $55.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $246.39 and its 200-day moving average is $268.21. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $195.00 and a 1-year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $277.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.