Bowie Capital Management LLC Invests $32.89 Million in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Bowie Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 106,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,893,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for approximately 1.4% of Bowie Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after purchasing an additional 685,278 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after buying an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,743,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,439,207,000 after buying an additional 117,646 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth $1,536,230,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.5% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,107,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $962,483,000 after acquiring an additional 725,555 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,472,271.97. The trade was a 18.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 24,850 shares of company stock valued at $6,364,440 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $228.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $58.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.14, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $195.00 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $239.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The business had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AJG. Truist Financial set a $271.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $292.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Evercore cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $289.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

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.