Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Trims Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lowered its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 60.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,022 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AJG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,361 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,107,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $962,483,000 after purchasing an additional 725,555 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,866,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $887,976,000 after purchasing an additional 593,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,270,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,100,000 after purchasing an additional 395,304 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $265.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $203.36 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $211.82 and its 200-day moving average is $232.98. The company has a market cap of $52.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.40% 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.