Benjamin Edwards Inc. Sells 79 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lessened its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Capital World Investors grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,433,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $997,053,000 after acquiring an additional 884,394 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,076,000 after acquiring an additional 790,467 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,763,177,000 after acquiring an additional 727,325 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 476.2% in the 4th quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. now owns 484,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,965,000 after acquiring an additional 400,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 510.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 189,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,339,000 after buying an additional 158,295 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $282.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $61.66 billion, a PE ratio of 57.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $262.49. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $301.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.47.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,853,685.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,145 shares of company stock worth $10,629,900 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.