Ibex Wealth Advisors Lowers Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Ibex Wealth Advisors reduced its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 72.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,456 shares during the quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total transaction of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,472,271.97. This trade represents a 18.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,850 shares of company stock valued at $6,364,440. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Wall Street Zen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $292.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $227.86 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $195.00 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.79. The company has a market cap of $58.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 42.28%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.