First Manhattan CO. LLC. Acquires 637 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $338.67 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $330.37 and a 200 day moving average of $309.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $244.60 and a 1-year high of $350.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.61 billion, a PE ratio of 51.94 and a beta of 0.78.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,835 shares of company stock valued at $5,839,830 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.33.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.