Wedmont Private Capital Buys 144 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AJG. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.36.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $328.90 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $251.42 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.44 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $332.45 and a 200-day moving average of $317.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 37.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,510 shares of company stock valued at $11,033,341. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.