Huntington National Bank Acquires 144 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.7% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,450,000 after buying an additional 14,860 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 161,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,756,000 after acquiring an additional 37,070 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth $3,297,000. Marsico Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 316.9% in the second quarter. Marsico Capital Management LLC now owns 11,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 8,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter worth about $749,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. 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 research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.14.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $294.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.11, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $288.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $218.63 and a 52-week high of $301.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced 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 return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the president now owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. The trade was a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by 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.