Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Short Interest Up 26.4% in December

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,926,285 shares, an increase of 26.4% from the December 15th total of 3,898,403 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,500,053 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 1,500,053 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Mizuho set a $277.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $292.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $282.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of AJG stock opened at $254.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.19 and a beta of 0.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $236.34 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 38.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,472,271.97. The trade was a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $247.12 per share, with a total value of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,341,724.88. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $9,954,625,000 after buying an additional 685,278 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,783,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,649,477,000 after purchasing an additional 101,298 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,891,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,373,403,000 after purchasing an additional 147,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,228,156,000 after buying an additional 45,256 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.