Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Purchased by Prudent Man Advisors LLC

Prudent Man Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 34.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 818 shares during the period. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $372,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,989,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs now owns 9,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,106,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 85,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. 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 $281.01 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $275.56 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $312.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.93%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AJG shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.43.

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.