FORA Capital LLC Has $2.16 Million Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

FORA Capital LLC cut its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 573 shares during the quarter. FORA Capital LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 219.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,043,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,660,000 after buying an additional 717,221 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,237,000 after purchasing an additional 618,362 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after purchasing an additional 383,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29,927.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 232,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,394,000 after purchasing an additional 231,638 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $315.00 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $218.63 and a 1 year high of $315.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $69.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $289.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.29.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,853,685.40. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.