GuoLine Advisory Pte Ltd Invests $13.56 Million in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

GuoLine Advisory Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 52,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,561,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up 1.2% of GuoLine Advisory Pte Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at $24,715,254.85. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 16,800 shares of company stock worth $4,095,936 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AJG. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Evercore decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $298.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $214.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.95, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $229.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $257.07. 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 $195.00 and a 52-week high of $351.23.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.53%.

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.