Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,248 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 18.5% during the first quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 20.6% in the first quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, TFR Capital LLC. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. TFR Capital LLC. now owns 4,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AJG. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.35.

Insider Activity

In related 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 approximately $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $254.36 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $316.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $65.35 billion, a PE ratio of 41.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 45.31%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.