O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,431 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,925,062,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after buying an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted 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 valued at $272,670,000 after buying an additional 1,042,361 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,264,359,000 after buying an additional 830,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 725,555 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $220.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $56.58 billion, a PE ratio of 35.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $327.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.34.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AJG. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.59.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.