ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,942 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $18,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% in the first quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% during the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $353.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.5%

AJG opened at $254.85 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $239.47 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $287.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $306.01. The firm has a market cap of $65.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael Robert Pesch acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $247.12 per share, with a total value of $988,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,341,724.88. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.