Mizuho Securities USA LLC Reduces Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lowered its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 15.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,644 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $252,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.2% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $581,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth $231,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.3% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.0% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 59,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,984,000 after purchasing an additional 9,581 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 2.5 %

AJG stock opened at $303.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $288.42 and its 200 day moving average is $276.31. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $218.63 and a 12-month high of $303.67. The stock has a market cap of $66.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.77, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.72. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.71.

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.