Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG) stake by 46% in the second quarter, selling 28,670 shares and retaining 33,610 shares valued at approximately $7.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 85.53% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.53. Recent actions included UBS raising its target to $299 and Wolfe Research downgrading the stock to “peer perform.”
• AJG reported quarterly EPS of $2.84, slightly exceeding 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% annualized yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 46.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 28,670 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Wolfe Research downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $291.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.53.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AJG opened at $253.74 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $313.55. The stock's 50-day moving average is $238.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $65.03 billion, a PE ratio of 42.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

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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