Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Has $461,000 Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% during the second quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 2.1 %

AJG stock opened at $281.93 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $218.63 and a 52 week high of $301.04. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.17. The company has a market capitalization of $61.60 billion, a PE ratio of 57.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,625,146.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,625,146.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $301.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $282.93.

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.