Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Holdings Trimmed by WCM Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• WCM Investment Management trimmed its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the first quarter, though it still held 2.36 million shares worth about $510.2 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with 13 Buy ratings and six Hold ratings, and an average price target of $280.35.
• Arthur J. Gallagher recently posted better-than-expected earnings of $4.47 per share on $4.71 billion in revenue, and it paid a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share for a 1.1% annualized yield.

WCM Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,362,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,781 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC owned about 0.92% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $510,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $280.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $254.36 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $316.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $65.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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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