UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Has $6.76 Million Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,096 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after acquiring an additional 685,278 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,743,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,439,207,000 after purchasing an additional 117,646 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,536,230,000. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.5% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,464,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $783,097,000 after buying an additional 128,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $762,473,000 after buying an additional 94,940 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $328.00 to $311.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $344.00 to $282.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $253.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.84 and a beta of 0.67. 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 12 month low of $236.34 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $253.76 and its 200-day moving average is $278.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is 38.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $4,041,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.