Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 2,533 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Intech Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,533 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,947 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% in the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,398,000 after purchasing an additional 19,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $412,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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. Insiders have sold 10,800 shares of company stock valued at $2,391,246 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group set a $240.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of AJG opened at $205.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $190.75 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $211.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 45.31%.

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.