Maridea Wealth Management LLC Takes $1.62 Million Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Maridea Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,620,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% in the second quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Petra Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at $812,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $214.36 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $269.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. 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 $55.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. This represents a 18.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares in the company, valued at $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 have sold 26,100 shares of company stock worth $6,677,865 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.