HB Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

HB Wealth Management LLC cut its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 813 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 22.5% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $382,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.7% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 43,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,174,000 after buying an additional 2,362 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at $58,041,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,569,792. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $344.00 price objective on the stock. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $330.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $305.83 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $275.56 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $78.42 billion, a PE ratio of 43.44 and a beta of 0.73. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $297.71 and a 200 day moving average of $317.02.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors 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 of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.93%.

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.