Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 70.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,000 after acquiring an additional 5,308 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 22.5% in the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,985 shares during the period. Vicus Capital bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth $7,261,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,654,772.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $282.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.28, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $289.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.89. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $301.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued 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 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid 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 yield of 0.85%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.