3,924 Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Bought by ABN Amro Investment Solutions

ABN Amro Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,256,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.1% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 22,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,136,000 after buying an additional 874 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 38,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,317,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $2,464,000. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth about $241,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.4% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 87,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,897,000 after buying an additional 18,733 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael Robert Pesch bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 41,849 shares in the company, valued at $10,341,724.88. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of AJG opened at $258.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $239.47 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $66.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $284.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $304.86.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.