Baillie Gifford & Co. Cuts Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 908,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,643 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.35% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $281,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AJG. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $344.00 to $282.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $329.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,668 shares in the company, valued at $13,224,348. The trade was a 10.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,472,271.97. This trade represents a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $253.13 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $253.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.93. The firm has a market cap of $65.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.84 and a beta of 0.67. 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 one year low of $236.34 and a one year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released 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). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

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.