Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Purchased by Marino Stram & Associates LLC

Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,422,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,067,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,857,737,000 after purchasing an additional 305,876 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,327,403,000 after buying an additional 1,910,471 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,779,248,000 after buying an additional 787,265 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,421,591,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. The trade was a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,510 shares of company stock valued at $11,033,341 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.29.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of AJG opened at $316.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $251.42 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $80.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.74 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $331.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $317.26.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.63%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.