Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Invests $16.64 Million in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 51,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,636,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 41,475.5% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 770,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,619,000 after acquiring an additional 768,541 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 72.3% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 494,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,332,000 after purchasing an additional 207,500 shares during the last quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,076,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 107,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,407,000 after buying an additional 33,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 11 Capital Partners LP increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 48.5% during the second quarter. 11 Capital Partners LP now owns 68,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,917,000 after buying an additional 22,362 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $255.47 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $236.34 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a market cap of $65.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.19 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $263.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The company’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.00, for a total transaction of $1,566,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 50,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,224,348. This represents a 10.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 21,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,071,365 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $361.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $291.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.87.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.