EP Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 21.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth $26,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% in the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $283.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total value of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 30,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,536,855.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total value of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,145 shares of company stock worth $12,622,660 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $289.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $287.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $264.86. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $218.63 and a 52-week high of $301.04. The company has a market cap of $63.31 billion, a PE ratio of 58.65, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.