CI Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

CI Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $11,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth $40,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $242.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $190.75 and a 1 year high of $315.48. The firm has a market cap of $62.35 billion, a PE ratio of 39.27, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.15.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded 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, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.35.

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.