Cadence Bank Sells 365 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Cadence Bank cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 21.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 365 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,323,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,321,493,000 after purchasing an additional 672,404 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $1,308,316,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,433,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $997,053,000 after buying an additional 884,394 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $656,217,000 after buying an additional 14,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,567,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $392,029,000 after buying an additional 79,271 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $273.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $9.56 on Friday, hitting $283.53. 1,161,093 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 850,743. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $260.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.95 billion, a PE ratio of 57.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $214.13 and a one year high of $283.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

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

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total value of $3,974,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $862,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 38,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,731,756. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $3,974,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,109,286.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,165 shares of company stock worth $13,629,049. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.