3,026 Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Bought by Asempa Wealth Advisors

Asempa Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $783,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the period. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 241.4% during the 3rd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 49,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,332,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. Cincinnati Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,824,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 71,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,086,000 after purchasing an additional 18,637 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,800 shares of company stock valued at $2,805,686. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $292.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of AJG stock opened at $214.92 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $229.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $256.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $195.00 and a 12-month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.53%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.