Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Sells 44,550 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC has decreased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 50.2%, now holding 44,250 shares valued at approximately $15.3 million.
• In contrast, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3%, now owning over 17 million shares valued at nearly $6 billion.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported Q2 earnings of $2.33 per share, falling short of expectations, while revenue increased 16.0% year-over-year to $3.18 billion.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 50.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 44,550 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $15,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 22.5% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $382,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,879,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Grand Managers LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $7,096,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AJG. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $345.00 to $322.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $331.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded up $0.96 during trading on Thursday, hitting $299.68. 769,095 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,634,541. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $274.25 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $305.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $321.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $76.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.57 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 36.93%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.