LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Makes New $622,000 Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $622,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,308,316,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,210.9% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,383,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,945 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,433,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $997,053,000 after purchasing an additional 884,394 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,076,000 after purchasing an additional 790,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,763,177,000 after acquiring an additional 727,325 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $298.66 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $218.63 and a twelve month high of $300.66. 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 company has a market capitalization of $65.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.29.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were 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 owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,348 shares of company stock worth $13,342,910. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $276.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.