Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lowered its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 40.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,266 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AJG. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% during the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,341,724.88. This represents a 10.57% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $249.75 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $239.47 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The company has a market cap of $64.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $307.40.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio is 38.86%.

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.