Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) VP Scott Hudson Sells 3,800 Shares

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) VP Scott Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG traded down $10.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $217.87. 1,961,117 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,529,529. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $238.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $262.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for 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%.The firm’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 45.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,925,062,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after buying an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,887,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,523,636,000 after buying an additional 3,253,498 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,670,000 after buying an additional 1,042,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $269,394,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $311.00 to $298.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.