Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Purchased by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 142.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,485 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,893,000 after purchasing an additional 11,752 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,450,000 after acquiring an additional 14,860 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,237,000 after acquiring an additional 618,362 shares during the last quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 48,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,830,000 after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $309.05 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $291.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.94. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $316.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $77.20 billion, a PE ratio of 47.40 and a beta of 0.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.