Wellington Management Group LLP Trims Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 50.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,281,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,301,884 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $294,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $1,925,062,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,887,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,636,000 after acquiring an additional 3,253,498 shares in the last quarter. Gtcr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $514,112,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $289,484,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,042,361 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $267.43 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $313.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.35, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $249.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.84.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The company’s revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.33 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 46.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 12,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total transaction of $3,240,960.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 71,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,254,543.36. The trade was a 14.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 18,500 shares of company stock worth $4,758,530 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $291.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Barclays upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.28.

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.