3,204 Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Bought by Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC

Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $992,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% during the second quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,189,000 after buying an additional 1,758 shares during the last quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at $812,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 735,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $762,473,000 after acquiring an additional 94,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:AJG opened at $258.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $236.34 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a market cap of $66.34 billion, a PE ratio of 38.61 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $253.96 and a 200-day moving average of $280.87.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 38.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares in the company, valued at $20,284,995. This represents a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AJG shares. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $328.00 to $311.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.50.

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.