Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 687 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,129,000 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 stock. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,504,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,059,000 after buying an additional 6,374 shares in the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 18,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,015,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 6,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,007,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AJG opened at $279.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.64 and a beta of 0.73. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $275.56 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $299.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $313.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 36.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AJG shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $344.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.