Cumberland Partners Ltd Sells 8,662 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Cumberland Partners Ltd lessened its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,662 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for 1.9% of Cumberland Partners Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $26,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 459.6% in the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 5,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 4,509 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 85,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,591,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.3% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.4% in the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 4,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $25,569,792. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $248.61 on Thursday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $282.36 and a 200 day moving average of $303.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31 and a beta of 0.71. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $239.47 and a 1 year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $353.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.64.

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.