FineMark National Bank & Trust Lowers Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

FineMark National Bank & Trust cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 244 shares during the quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $15,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after acquiring an additional 685,278 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,997,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815,007 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,959,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,798,000 after purchasing an additional 137,354 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,464,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,097,000 after buying an additional 128,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $762,473,000 after buying an additional 94,940 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $258.44 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $303.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71 and a beta of 0.71. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $239.47 and a 52-week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $361.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.64.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928 in the last ninety days. 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.