Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 1,971 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,971 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $33,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AJG. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total value of $3,240,960.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 71,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,254,543.36. This represents a 14.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,758,530. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $267.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $68.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.35, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $249.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.78. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $313.55.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 46.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $299.00 to $296.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $291.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $290.28.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.