Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Takes $37.45 Million Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 144,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,451,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,763,177,000 after acquiring an additional 727,325 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,308,316,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,832,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,208,208,000 after buying an additional 398,350 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $656,217,000 after purchasing an additional 14,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,611,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,206,000 after buying an additional 38,886 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $276.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.3 %

AJG opened at $294.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $64.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $279.84 and its 200 day moving average is $259.40. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $298.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 36,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,560,583.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total value of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 93,730 shares in the company, valued at $24,693,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total transaction of $2,181,530.22. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 36,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,560,583.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,348 shares of company stock valued at $13,342,910. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.