Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Decreases Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. reduced its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.6%, now owning 7,126 shares valued at approximately $2.46 million.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.9% with a payout ratio of 36.93%.
• The stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $331.07, with recent research indicating mixed ratings among analysts.

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 842 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,499,185,000 after acquiring an additional 739,130 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,997,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,815,007 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,959,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,021,798,000 after acquiring an additional 137,354 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,957,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $839,524,000 after acquiring an additional 260,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,364,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $816,409,000 after acquiring an additional 9,458 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AJG. UBS Group cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $345.00 to $322.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $344.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $333.13.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE AJG traded up $1.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $303.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,842,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,540,894. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $274.25 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $77.91 billion, a PE ratio of 43.16 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $303.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $321.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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 $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.