Sands Capital Management LLC Has $63.21 Million Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Sands Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 77.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 244,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 849,815 shares during the quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $63,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 177,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,891,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422 shares during the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,368.1% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 644,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,694,000 after acquiring an additional 600,252 shares during the last quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP now owns 14,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,589,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $759,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.1%

AJG stock opened at $218.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $327.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $210.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $227.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.53.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 45.31%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AJG. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $283.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.71.

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.