Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Sells 707 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 45.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 707 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in 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. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,640,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,511,000 after purchasing an additional 42,841 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,410,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $365,718,000 after purchasing an additional 50,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 219.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,043,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,660,000 after purchasing an additional 717,221 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $307.99 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $218.63 and a 1 year high of $316.72. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $67.57 billion, a PE ratio of 58.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $279.74.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,853,685.40. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.64.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.