Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Has $12.29 Million Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 43.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,469 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $12,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 668.2% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $215.29 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $195.00 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $55.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $217.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $241.44.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.53%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AJG. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.94.

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.