Allworth Financial LP Boosts Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 175.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,917 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AJG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,997,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815,007 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,499,185,000 after acquiring an additional 739,130 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth $240,665,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3,142.2% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,268,000 after acquiring an additional 621,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at about $136,565,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $247.12 per share, with a total value of $988,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,341,724.88. This represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AJG. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $255.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.60 billion, a PE ratio of 36.34 and a beta of 0.71. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $239.47 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $286.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $305.66.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.86%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.