iA Global Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 52,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,382,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,536,230,000. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 453.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,121,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,934,000 after buying an additional 918,618 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 41,475.5% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 770,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $246,619,000 after buying an additional 768,541 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,954,625,000 after buying an additional 685,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,354,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $753,765,000 after acquiring an additional 503,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael Robert Pesch bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $247.12 per share, with a total value of $988,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 41,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,341,724.88. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $4,041,750.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $250.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $236.34 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $64.25 billion, a PE ratio of 37.40 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $253.87 and its 200-day moving average is $279.37.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid 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 of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 38.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $289.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.