Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Has $122.96 Million Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 437,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,376 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $122,963,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after buying an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,513,199,000 after acquiring an additional 47,656 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,541,044,000 after acquiring an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after purchasing an additional 383,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,640,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,511,000 after purchasing an additional 42,841 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,800 shares of company stock worth $4,789,260. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.57.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $284.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.81. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $218.63 and a one year high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

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.