Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Grows Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 17.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,450,000 after acquiring an additional 14,860 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at approximately $749,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29.9% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 161,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,756,000 after buying an additional 37,070 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $3,297,000. Finally, Marsico Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 316.9% in the second quarter. Marsico Capital Management LLC now owns 11,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after buying an additional 8,701 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. The trade was a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $303.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $218.63 and a 1-year high of $303.67. The firm has a market cap of $66.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.