West Family Investments Inc. Raises Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 107.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 753 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after acquiring an additional 685,278 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,997,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815,007 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,536,230,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,959,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,798,000 after purchasing an additional 137,354 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.5% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,464,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,097,000 after buying an additional 128,071 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.3%

AJG opened at $247.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.61 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $239.47 and a 52 week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $291.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $353.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $340.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.33.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.00, for a total value of $1,566,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,668 shares in the company, valued at $13,224,348. This represents a 10.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,105 shares of company stock valued at $10,796,353. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.