Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 1,946 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,946 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $8,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,289,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% during the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AJG. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $317.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AJG opened at $279.05 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $299.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $313.37. 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 $71.55 billion, a PE ratio of 39.64 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.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis 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 (DPR) is currently 36.93%.

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.