Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by Fenimore Asset Management Inc

Fenimore Asset Management Inc reduced its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 356,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,562 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises approximately 2.3% of Fenimore Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Fenimore Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $114,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. City Holding Co. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% during the first quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 34.3% during the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $369.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $328.80.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $310.95 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $316.55. 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. has a 1 year low of $275.56 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The company has a market capitalization of $79.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.17 and a beta of 0.73.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.