Professional Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Professional Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,539 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for about 2.6% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $20,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,783,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,649,477,000 after purchasing an additional 101,298 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,891,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,373,403,000 after buying an additional 147,587 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,228,156,000 after buying an additional 45,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at $1,536,230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $215.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $195.00 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $227.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.12, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.53%.

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.