Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 86.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,208 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,536,230,000. Sands Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 453.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 918,618 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 41,475.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 768,541 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 685,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $753,765,000 after acquiring an additional 503,205 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $245.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $236.34 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The company has a market cap of $63.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $275.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 42.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $249.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.12.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,472,271.97. The trade was a 18.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.