King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 34,426 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 15.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 188,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,426 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $58,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% in 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. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted 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 worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $4,041,750.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. The trade was a 18.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,100 shares of company stock valued at $6,677,865. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $292.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $214.58 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $247.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $269.15. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $195.00 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The company has a market capitalization of $55.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.66. 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. (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, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.28%.

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.