Wolff Wiese Magana LLC Acquires 1,274 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 2,895.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,318 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,274 shares during the quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,422,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,067,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,857,737,000 after buying an additional 305,876 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,327,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,471 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,779,248,000 after acquiring an additional 787,265 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $1,421,591,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $4.15 on Monday, hitting $324.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,311,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,350,827. The stock has a market cap of $83.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.93 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $251.42 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The business's 50 day moving average is $330.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.56.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total transaction of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total transaction of $3,540,285.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 91,175 shares in the company, valued at $30,741,474.75. This trade represents a 10.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.