Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) CFO Douglas K. Howell Sells 5,100 Shares

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,100 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total value of $1,310,904.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,852 shares in the company, valued at $19,496,998.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $250.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $244.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.76. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $198.52 and a 52 week high of $259.35. The company has a market cap of $54.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.80, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,308,316,000. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,210.9% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,383,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,117,000 after buying an additional 1,277,945 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,433,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $997,053,000 after buying an additional 884,394 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,076,000 after buying an additional 790,467 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,763,177,000 after buying an additional 727,325 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.