Prospector Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Prospector Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 2.3% of Prospector Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $20,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% during the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,853,685.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total value of $1,799,520.10. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,536,855.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $301.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.2 %

AJG opened at $276.06 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $285.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.84. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $218.63 and a 52 week high of $301.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $60.32 billion, a PE ratio of 55.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.