Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Position Increased by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,256 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned about 2.81% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $2,228,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 238,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,818,000 after purchasing an additional 12,999 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,385,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,207,000 after purchasing an additional 69,208 shares during the period. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at $33,530,000. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.7% in the third quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 10,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,347,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29.5% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 303,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,077,000 after buying an additional 69,173 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $217.87 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $238.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $262.54. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $195.00 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $56.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.53%.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value 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 $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,650 shares of company stock valued at $8,137,686. Company 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.