Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) is Ballew Advisors Inc’s 5th Largest Position

Ballew Advisors Inc reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,991 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up about 3.9% of Ballew Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Ballew Advisors Inc’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 129,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,845,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386 shares during the last quarter. Kelly Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth about $220,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 27,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,553,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 99.1% in the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.5% in the first quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.29.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.5%

AJG opened at $312.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $251.42 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.00 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $331.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $317.09.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.63%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,502,278.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total value of $3,540,285.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 91,175 shares in the company, valued at $30,741,474.75. This represents a 10.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,510 shares of company stock valued at $11,033,341 in the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.