Principle Wealth Partners LLC Buys Shares of 1,192 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Principle Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $382,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% in 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 boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $282.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $312.72. The stock has a market cap of $72.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13 and a beta of 0.73. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $275.56 and a 52 week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 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 the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 36.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.43.

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.