Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $299.00 to $296.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $248.29 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $242.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.61. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $313.55. The company has a market capitalization of $63.64 billion, a PE ratio of 41.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 9.96%.The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 46.43%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.