ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Takes Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,238,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,431,788,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,534,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $853,932,000 after buying an additional 66,186 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $418,715,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,143,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $404,069,000 after buying an additional 619,008 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,873,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,227,000 after buying an additional 16,245 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.99, for a total value of $6,779,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 164,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,146,202.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.99, for a total transaction of $6,779,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 164,371 shares in the company, valued at $37,146,202.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.40, for a total value of $216,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,070,823.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,638 shares of company stock valued at $9,354,279. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $231.07 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.70. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $167.93 and a 52-week high of $232.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $219.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 12.11%. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 42.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. VNET Group restated a “maintains” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $232.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $238.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.54.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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 businesses and organizations 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.