Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock: Insider Douglas Howell Sells 30,996 Shares

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) CFO Douglas Howell sold 30,996 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.15, for a total transaction of $8,528,549.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 92,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,578,219.15. The trade was a 25.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 5.6%

NYSE AJG traded up $15.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $288.75. 2,234,204 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,892,214. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $248.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $289.93. The stock has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a PE ratio of 44.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 10.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.81%.

Key Headlines Impacting Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Here are the key news stories impacting Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target to $319 from $295 and maintained a Buy rating, citing potential upside. Wells Fargo also issued a Buy rating. Read More. · Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: A report on AJG’s Q3 earnings call pointed to strong growth, supporting the company’s longer-term outlook. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: AJG named Tom Doyle CEO of its Benefits & HR Consulting division. The leadership change may provide continuity, but no immediate financial impact was reported. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Citi downgraded AJG to Neutral, saying the risk-reward profile is more balanced, while BMO cut its rating to Market Perform, citing profit-taking. Their $300 and $295 targets, respectively, suggest limited upside at the cited share price and may temper bullish sentiment. Read More. · Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Vice President Christopher Mead sold 7,590 shares, reducing his direct holding by 25.4%. Insider sales can weigh on sentiment, although the filing does not explain the reason for the transaction. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AJG. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $284.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $295.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.05.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,242,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $702,182,000 after purchasing an additional 409,145 shares during the period. Gtcr LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $514,112,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,970,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,887,000 after buying an additional 101,431 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,854,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $401,645,000 after buying an additional 346,409 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.3% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,453,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,743,000 after buying an additional 3,905 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting company. The firm helps businesses, public entities and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance and related services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting, wholesale brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, claims administration and risk management consulting. Gallagher places commercial and personal insurance coverage and provides services related to property and casualty risks, health care, benefits, and other specialized insurance needs.

Founded in 1927 by Arthur J.