Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 44.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,123 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on 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. Piper Sandler cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $276.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Seven equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $254.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $254.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.78. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $236.34 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.09 and a beta of 0.67. 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 results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.86%.

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.