Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Stock Position Lifted by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,520 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $11,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,242,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $702,182,000 after buying an additional 409,145 shares during the period. Gtcr LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at about $514,112,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,970,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $426,887,000 after acquiring an additional 101,431 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,854,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $401,645,000 after acquiring an additional 346,409 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.3% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,453,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $278.00 to $255.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $291.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.74.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $259.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.00, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $246.54 and a 200 day moving average of $232.85. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $284.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 46.43%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.13, for a total transaction of $3,169,560.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 90,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,840,902.06. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total value of $3,240,960.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 71,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,254,543.36. This trade represents a 14.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,500 shares of company stock worth $7,562,950. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting company. The firm helps businesses, public entities and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance and related services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting, wholesale brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, claims administration and risk management consulting. Gallagher places commercial and personal insurance coverage and provides services related to property and casualty risks, health care, benefits, and other specialized insurance needs.

Founded in 1927 by Arthur J.