Bleakley Financial Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,224 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,763,177,000 after acquiring an additional 727,325 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,832,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,208,208,000 after acquiring an additional 398,350 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,640,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,511,000 after acquiring an additional 42,841 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,611,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,206,000 after acquiring an additional 38,886 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,567,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,029,000 after buying an additional 79,271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,654,772.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at $93,121,853.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,145 shares of company stock worth $12,622,660 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $289.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $63.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.55, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $218.63 and a 12-month high of $301.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $288.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.81.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.