263,418 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by Cooke & Bieler LP

Cooke & Bieler LP reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 506,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 263,418 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up about 1.7% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 0.20% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $115,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Triumph Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. NFSG Corp grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4,033.3% in the 3rd quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 57.4% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 54 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, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.13, for a total transaction of $3,169,560.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 90,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,840,902.06. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.86, for a total transaction of $252,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,838,652.34. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 28,500 shares of company stock worth $7,562,950 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (down from $271.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.74.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AJG opened at $258.64 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $246.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.14. The stock has a market cap of $66.29 billion, a PE ratio of 42.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $284.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 9.96%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.43%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting company. The firm helps businesses, public entities and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance and related services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting, wholesale brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, claims administration and risk management consulting. Gallagher places commercial and personal insurance coverage and provides services related to property and casualty risks, health care, benefits, and other specialized insurance needs.

Founded in 1927 by Arthur J.