Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC decreased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,291 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up 2.2% of Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $29,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AJG. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth $34,000. Centennial Bank AR bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Motco increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 700.0% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $317.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $330.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.3%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $304.09 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $275.56 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $317.33. The company has a market capitalization of $77.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.19 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.