Heartland Bank & Trust Co Buys New Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $802,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% in the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,398,000 after buying an additional 19,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $412,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Argus upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $267.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $299.00 to $296.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $290.28.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 3,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $899,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,711,755.46. This represents a 13.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:AJG opened at $263.24 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $313.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $244.50 and its 200 day moving average is $225.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.47 billion, a PE ratio of 43.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 9.96%.The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 46.43%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.