ARS Investment Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15% in the first quarter, holding 95,135 shares worth about $20.6 million after buying 12,381 more shares.
• Institutional interest in AJG remains strong, with 85.53% of the stock owned by hedge funds and other institutions; several other firms also added or initiated positions during the period.
• Wall Street sentiment is constructive, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $264.12, while the company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates and paid a $0.70 per share dividend.

ARS Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 15.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,381 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up 1.1% of ARS Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. ARS Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $20,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% in the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,398,000 after purchasing an additional 19,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth $412,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $264.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $214.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $210.65 and a 200 day moving average of $226.89. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $327.34.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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