Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 16,076 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 29.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 70,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,076 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $22,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% in the second quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares in the last quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at $812,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 735,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,226,000 after buying an additional 2,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $762,473,000 after buying an additional 94,940 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $247.12 per share, with a total value of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president owned 41,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,341,724.88. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,105 shares of company stock worth $10,796,353. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $248.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $63.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.33 and a beta of 0.71. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $239.47 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $277.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $300.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly 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). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $340.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Barclays cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $328.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $361.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.