Balefire LLC Sells 70 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Balefire LLC lowered its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,455,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $413,074,000 after purchasing an additional 47,585 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 48,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,730,000 after buying an additional 5,274 shares during the period. FFT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 99.6% in the fourth quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. LGL Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total transaction of $3,540,285.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 91,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,741,474.75. This trade represents a 10.33% 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, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total transaction of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,109,256.33. The trade was a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. 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 on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.29.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.6%

AJG opened at $317.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.95 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $251.42 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $317.81.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 14.83%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 37.63%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.