APG Asset Management N.V. Purchases 319,820 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• APG Asset Management N.V. greatly increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 91.9%, acquiring a total of 667,854 shares valued at approximately $213 million by the end of Q1.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.33 EPS, which was below the consensus estimate, while achieving a 16% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 to be paid on September 19, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.9%.

APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 91.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 667,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 319,820 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned approximately 0.26% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $213,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 739,130 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,815,007 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 137,354 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 260,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 9,458 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $298.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,513,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,540,138. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $305.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $322.05. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $274.25 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $76.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.47 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $345.00 to $322.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $317.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $331.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.