Payden & Rygel Sells 3,000 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Payden & Rygel trimmed its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 85.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,361 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,107,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $962,483,000 after purchasing an additional 725,555 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,866,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $887,976,000 after purchasing an additional 593,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,270,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,100,000 after purchasing an additional 395,304 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AJG. Mizuho lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $207.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $190.75 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $53.26 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $212.61 and a 200-day moving average of $233.80.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.31%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.