Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Has $623,000 Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 44.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,747 shares during the quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EULAV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 16,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,655,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. SMART Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $484,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 28,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,963,000 after buying an additional 5,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 561,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,334,000 after acquiring an additional 71,544 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $322.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $323.55. The company has a market cap of $80.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.45 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $291.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.91.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.