Dakota Wealth Management Lowers Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Dakota Wealth Management decreased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 51.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,805 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 65,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,398,000 after acquiring an additional 6,090 shares in the last quarter. Cincinnati Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,824,000. Finally, Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 241.4% in the 3rd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 49,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,332,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.7%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $206.73 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $195.00 and a one year high of $351.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $225.18 and a 200 day moving average of $254.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $53.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.53%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.