Thomasville National Bank Lowers Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Thomasville National Bank reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,709 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up 2.3% of Thomasville National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $34,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Motco raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 700.0% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.78, for a total value of $899,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 114,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,407,849.06. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of AJG opened at $299.90 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $298.80 and a 200 day moving average of $318.33. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $274.25 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $76.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.60 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $330.93.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.