C WorldWide Group Holding A S Purchases 2,675 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

C WorldWide Group Holding A S boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,675 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after purchasing an additional 685,278 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,743,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,439,207,000 after buying an additional 117,646 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,536,230,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,866,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $887,976,000 after acquiring an additional 593,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,464,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $783,097,000 after acquiring an additional 128,071 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.8%

NYSE AJG opened at $242.65 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $236.34 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $274.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $62.31 billion, a PE ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.66.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.00, for a total value of $1,566,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,224,348. The trade was a 10.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $284.12.

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.