Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) General Counsel Walter D. Bay Sells 6,335 Shares

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total transaction of $1,799,520.10. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 30,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,536,855.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.0 %

AJG traded up $5.63 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $285.00. The company had a trading volume of 803,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,467. The company has a market cap of $62.27 billion, a PE ratio of 57.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $261.79 and a 200-day moving average of $249.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $214.13 and a 1-year high of $286.01.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AJG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $1,308,316,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,277,945 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 884,394 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,076,000 after acquiring an additional 790,467 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,763,177,000 after acquiring an additional 727,325 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $273.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.