Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Position Reduced by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 122,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,321 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $26,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,947 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% in the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 19,325 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth $412,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $242.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.3%

AJG stock opened at $247.91 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $190.75 and a twelve month high of $315.48. The company has a market cap of $63.69 billion, a PE ratio of 40.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.31%.

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.