Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Purchases 11,682 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 34.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,682 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $11,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 727,325 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,308,316,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,832,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,208,208,000 after buying an additional 398,350 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $656,217,000 after acquiring an additional 14,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,611,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $402,206,000 after acquiring an additional 38,886 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.3 %

AJG stock opened at $297.39 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $283.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.28. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $300.66. The firm has a market cap of $65.16 billion, a PE ratio of 60.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 36,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,560,583.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,654,772.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 36,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,560,583.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,448 shares of company stock worth $15,445,930. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $276.82.

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.