Fiera Capital Corp Buys Shares of 175,945 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 175,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $54,497,000. Fiera Capital Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth approximately $49,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $218.47 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 fifty-two week low of $195.00 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $56.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $247.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.80.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 42.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $311.00 to $298.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $289.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,284,995. This represents a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 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. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 24,850 shares of company stock worth $6,364,440 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.