Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning Decreases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning decreased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 15.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 983 shares during the quarter. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,323,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,321,493,000 after purchasing an additional 672,404 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,209,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,345,000 after acquiring an additional 34,999 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $1,308,316,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,000,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,139,872,000 after purchasing an additional 90,842 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 884,394 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total value of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 93,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,693,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 93,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,693,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $3,974,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares in the company, valued at $20,109,286.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,165 shares of company stock valued at $13,629,049. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $274.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $263.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.3 %

AJG opened at $261.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $57.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.02, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.76. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $212.39 and a 52 week high of $266.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

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.