888 Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Purchased by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 888 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,194 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,384 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $342.12 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $87.62 billion, a PE ratio of 52.47 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $330.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $312.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $244.60 and a 1 year high of $350.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is 37.63%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on 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. Barclays lifted their price target on 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.

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