Metis Global Partners LLC Has $3.09 Million Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Metis Global Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 19.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,464 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after buying an additional 685,278 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,743,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,439,207,000 after acquiring an additional 117,646 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,536,230,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,866,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $887,976,000 after purchasing an additional 593,483 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $762,473,000 after purchasing an additional 94,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,715,254.85. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,284,995. This trade represents a 16.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $311.00 to $298.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $289.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $208.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $195.00 and a 12-month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.28%.

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.