Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Has $8.36 Million Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 41.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,700 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $8,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% during the second quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $812,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 735,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $762,473,000 after purchasing an additional 94,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.3%

AJG stock opened at $247.69 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $275.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $298.86. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $239.47 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 38.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 37,105 shares of company stock worth $10,796,353 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AJG. Wall Street Zen cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Barclays downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $328.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $361.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $353.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a 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 given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.