Moore Capital Management LP Has $44.97 Million Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Moore Capital Management LP raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 13.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 145,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,752 shares during the quarter. Moore Capital Management LP’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $44,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 77,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.3% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 26,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,533,000 after buying an additional 3,726 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.3% in the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 28,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,191,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $211.91 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $233.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.48 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.67. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $195.00 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 32,650 shares of company stock valued at $8,137,686 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $226.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $289.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.65.

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.