Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors trimmed its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9%, selling 28,102 shares and leaving it with 695,538 shares (about 0.27%) valued at roughly $215.4 million.
• Insiders have been selling: VP Christopher Mead sold 4,000 shares and CFO Douglas Howell sold 5,000 shares at ~ $258 each, with insiders offloading 24,850 shares worth $6.36 million over the past three months (insider ownership ~1.6%).
• Dividend raised: the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 ($2.80 annualized) with an ex-dividend date of March 6 and a yield of about 1.2%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 695,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 28,102 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.27% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $215,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. The trade was a 18.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 24,850 shares of company stock worth $6,364,440 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. Mizuho upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $311.00 to $298.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $226.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $281.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.5%

AJG stock opened at $228.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $239.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.43. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $195.00 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.72 billion, a PE ratio of 37.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion during 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 42.28%.

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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