Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. Cuts Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,729 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up 2.8% of Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $17,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock traded up $2.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $326.18. 1,024,893 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,537,680. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $251.42 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The stock's 50-day moving average is $330.50 and its 200 day moving average is $317.76. The stock has a market cap of $83.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.20 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 14.83%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is 37.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $319.29.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,502,278.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.