Savant Capital LLC Sells 2,865 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Savant Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 29.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,865 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after buying an additional 3,330,205 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,670,000 after buying an additional 1,042,361 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,107,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $962,483,000 after buying an additional 725,555 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,866,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $887,976,000 after buying an additional 593,483 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,270,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,100,000 after buying an additional 395,304 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.1%

AJG opened at $201.23 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $211.10 and its 200-day moving average is $230.80. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $190.75 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $51.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.53.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.26 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, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.00.

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.