Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 236,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,490 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $75,729,000 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. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 99.2% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 107,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,221,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 91.3% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 872.2% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael Robert Pesch acquired 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,341,724.88. This represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $258.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $284.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $304.86. The stock has a market cap of $66.39 billion, a PE ratio of 36.72 and a beta of 0.71. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.47 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.86%.

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.