Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 800,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,089 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up approximately 1.0% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $225,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,143,000. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 4,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 648,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,468,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,211,438. The trade was a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $292.08 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $218.63 and a twelve month high of $301.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $288.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.08 billion, a PE ratio of 56.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.