Factory Mutual Insurance Co. Buys 35,000 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 241.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $15,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AJG. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $218.47 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $195.00 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.66. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.80.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 42.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on AJG shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho set a $277.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $292.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve 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. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.12.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total value of $1,290,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. This trade represents 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, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $4,041,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 79,549 shares in the company, valued at $20,284,995. This trade represents a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,850 shares of company stock valued at $6,364,440. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.