Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 8,364 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Ritholtz Wealth Management cut its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 83.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,364 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AJG. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.9% in the third quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, June 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $239.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $190.75 and a 1 year high of $320.00. The company has a market capitalization of $61.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.23 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.