Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Lowers Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 186,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC owned about 0.07% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $53,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $317,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 673,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,640,000 after buying an additional 64,864 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.3% in the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.7% during the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,578,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 24,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,425,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $1.75 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $291.94. 42,607 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,074,989. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $227.08 and a 12-month high of $316.72. The firm has a market cap of $72.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.61 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $291.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.33. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented 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 stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.