Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Acquired by WCM Investment Management LLC

WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,464,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 128,071 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 1.8% of WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $783,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,499,185,000 after buying an additional 739,130 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,997,767,000 after buying an additional 4,815,007 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,959,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,798,000 after buying an additional 137,354 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,364,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $816,409,000 after buying an additional 9,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,286,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $789,528,000 after buying an additional 373,819 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $296.67 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $275.56 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The company has a market capitalization of $76.07 billion, a PE ratio of 42.14 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $299.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.95.

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). The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $317.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.43.

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.