Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Has $8.57 Million Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 49.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,848 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $8,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at $1,536,230,000. Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 453.3% during the second quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,121,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,934,000 after purchasing an additional 918,618 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 41,475.5% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 770,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,619,000 after purchasing an additional 768,541 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after purchasing an additional 685,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,354,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $753,765,000 after buying an additional 503,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $328.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $329.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $302.22.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $263.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $67.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.31 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $252.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $284.41. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $236.34 and a one year high of $351.23.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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 currently 38.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total value of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at $24,715,254.85. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.