736 Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Purchased by Washington Trust Bank

Washington Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. W Advisors LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% during the third quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $290.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $218.63 and a 12-month high of $301.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $288.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. The firm 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. Analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,853,685.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,625,146.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $287.00.

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.