Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Trims Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 247,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,461 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises approximately 1.5% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $76,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.8% during the second quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $219,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 41.8% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Tritonpoint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AJG shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $329.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:AJG opened at $255.11 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $236.34 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $253.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.02.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total value of $1,290,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total transaction of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. This represents a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.