Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Decreases Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group cut its Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG) stake by 37.8% in the second quarter, selling 64,185 shares and retaining 105,400 shares valued at approximately $24.2 million.
• Institutional investors own 85.53% of AJG, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $290.28; 14 analysts rate the stock Buy and five rate it Hold.
• AJG recently reported quarterly EPS of $2.84, slightly above estimates, with revenue up 24.3% year over year. The company also declared a $0.70 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 1.1% yield.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. decreased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 37.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 105,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 64,185 shares during the quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $24,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,925,062,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,887,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,523,636,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253,498 shares during the period. Gtcr LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth approximately $514,112,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth $289,484,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $272,670,000 after buying an additional 1,042,361 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $291.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Argus boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $267.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $290.28.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total value of $899,570.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,711,755.46. This represents a 13.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total transaction of $3,240,960.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 71,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,254,543.36. This trade represents a 14.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:AJG opened at $262.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.51, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $190.75 and a one year high of $313.55. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $250.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $226.19.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 46.43%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company's core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.

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