Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Acquired by Guinness Asset Management LTD

Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 831,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,118 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for approximately 4.8% of Guinness Asset Management LTD’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Guinness Asset Management LTD owned 0.32% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $266,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Motco lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 700.0% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $281.01 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $72.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.56 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.45.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis 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 presently 36.93%.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.