Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 904.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 170,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 153,187 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.07% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $36,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,123,534,000 after acquiring an additional 217,136 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,264,359,000 after purchasing an additional 830,252 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,953,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,834,682,000 after purchasing an additional 62,518 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,925,062,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,253,498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $253.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $315.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.89.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $242.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.35.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.