Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Bought by Wendell David Associates Inc.

Wendell David Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 14.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,242 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $329.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of AJG stock opened at $250.21 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $236.34 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $64.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.40 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $253.87 and a 200 day moving average of $279.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $247.12 per share, with a total value of $988,480.00. Following the purchase, the vice president owned 41,849 shares in the company, valued at $10,341,724.88. This represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.