Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $40.19 Million Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,264 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. owned about 0.05% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $40,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% during the second quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% in the second quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,758 shares during the last quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $812,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 94,940 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total transaction of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. This represents a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.00, for a total value of $1,566,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,224,348. The trade was a 10.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $259.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $252.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $283.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.72 and a beta of 0.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $236.34 and a 1 year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The company’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $328.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $276.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $292.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.11.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.