Wedmont Private Capital Grows Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 94.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,251 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $262.24 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.49, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $313.55.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.43%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.13, for a total transaction of $3,169,560.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 90,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,840,902.06. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total value of $899,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,711,755.46. The trade was a 13.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 27,500 shares of company stock worth $7,310,090 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $299.00 to $296.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $290.28.

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.