Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Bought by Factory Mutual Insurance Co.

Key Points

• Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.3% in Q4, acquiring 15,000 additional shares to hold 64,500 shares valued at $16.692 million.
• Arthur J. Gallagher beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.38 vs. $2.35) with revenue up 33.9% YoY and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.70 (annualized $2.80, 1.3% yield); analysts’ consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $274.

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 30.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $16,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,429,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 64,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,610,000 after purchasing an additional 3,267 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AJG. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $246.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $292.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.4%

AJG opened at $213.25 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $195.00 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock's fifty day moving average is $218.63 and its 200-day moving average is $248.88. The company has a market capitalization of $54.83 billion, a PE ratio of 34.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 45.53%.

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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