Vicus Capital Purchases New Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Vicus Capital acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Centennial Bank AR bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $344.00 price objective for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $328.80.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.7%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $308.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $78.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.76 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average of $297.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.87. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $275.56 and a twelve month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.