Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by Longbow Finance SA

Longbow Finance SA lowered its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 12.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,281 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 1.6% of Longbow Finance SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Longbow Finance SA’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $16,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,877,000. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% during the second quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares in the last quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth $812,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 735,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,226,000 after buying an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.00, for a total value of $1,566,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 50,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,224,348. This represents a 10.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $4,041,750.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,284,995. This represents a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.4%

AJG stock opened at $204.54 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $195.00 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $52.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $250.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AJG. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell 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 $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.