Keeley Teton Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Keeley Teton Advisors LLC lessened its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 361,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,281,000 after purchasing an additional 28,359 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth about $3,841,000. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 70.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 5,308 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 112,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,206,000 after purchasing an additional 15,528 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG traded up $9.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $283.58. 1,161,116 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 713,993. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $214.13 and a 1-year high of $283.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $261.33 and its 200-day moving average is $248.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $61.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total value of $3,974,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total value of $3,974,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.84, for a total value of $219,164.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,108 shares in the company, valued at $11,630,646.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,165 shares of company stock worth $13,629,049 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $273.27.

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.