Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Acquired by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,163 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. W Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% in the third quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 5,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Disciplined Investments LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 5,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.0 %

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $288.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $72.14 billion, a PE ratio of 55.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $291.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.33. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $227.08 and a 52 week high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 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 firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

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.