Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 3,204 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 3,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $992,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Steph & Co. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $258.32 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $236.34 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.34 billion, a PE ratio of 38.61 and a beta of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.00, for a total transaction of $1,566,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,668 shares in the company, valued at $13,224,348. The trade was a 10.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,341,724.88. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $344.00 to $282.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $289.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.50.

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.