Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Stock Holdings Cut by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 613,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,267 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.24% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $158,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position 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 last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% during the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 19,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at $412,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $205.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $211.03 and a 200-day moving average of $230.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.53. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors 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 is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.