Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Stake Boosted by Professional Advisory Services Inc.

Key Points

• Professional Advisory Services increased its AJG stake by 11.7% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 108,452 shares valued at approximately $24.9 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 85.53% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 13 Buy ratings and five Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $287.65.
• Arthur J. Gallagher reported quarterly EPS of $2.84, slightly ahead of estimates, while revenue rose 24.3% year over year to $3.95 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, representing a 1.1% yield.

Professional Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,452 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,371 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for 3.0% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $24,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Dearborn Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 133,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,661,000 after buying an additional 7,946 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,571,000. Gtcr LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at $514,112,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 154,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,965,000 after acquiring an additional 44,824 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $1,371,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $299.00 to $296.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.65.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $247.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm's 50 day moving average is $236.28 and its 200-day moving average is $224.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $313.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 46.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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