Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Holdings Decreased by Terra Nova Asset Management LLC

Terra Nova Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 73.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,818 shares during the period. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the third 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. Sands Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 453.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,121,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,934,000 after buying an additional 918,618 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 41,475.5% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 770,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,619,000 after buying an additional 768,541 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,107,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $962,483,000 after buying an additional 725,555 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $887,976,000 after buying an additional 593,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised 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 report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $298.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.7%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $206.73 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $195.00 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $225.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $254.02.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The company 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%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is an increase 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%.

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.