Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 601,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 22,505 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up 1.7% of Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.24% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $170,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Running Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 48,722 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,830,000 after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 15,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537 shares during the last quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 65.0% during the 4th quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,962 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,260,000 after purchasing an additional 3,138 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 181,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,453,000 after buying an additional 6,905 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 28,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,963,000 after acquiring an additional 5,333 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Redburn Atlantic initiated 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays raised 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $318.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 45,323 shares in the company, valued at $15,502,278.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 owns 91,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,741,474.75. This represents a 10.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,510 shares of company stock worth $11,033,341. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.4%

AJG traded down $1.33 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $341.42. The stock had a trading volume of 311,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,563,711. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $87.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.35 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50 day moving average is $332.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.45. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $244.60 and a one year high of $350.70.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. As a group, 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

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.