Rafferty Asset Management LLC Boosts Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,037 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,755 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $24,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 58.3% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 543 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 7,860 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,375,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE AJG traded down $3.59 on Tuesday, reaching $340.23. 908,387 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,313,133. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $331.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $312.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $244.60 and a 12 month high of $350.70. The company has a market cap of $87.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.18 and a beta of 0.78.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS 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, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $318.57.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.