Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys 4,636 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.3%, acquiring an additional 4,636 shares, bringing its total to 22,929 shares valued at approximately $7.9 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock, with one sell rating, eight holds, and five buys, while the consensus target price is set at $322.31.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, yielding 0.83%, with a payout ratio of 37.63% as disclosed in its recent earnings report.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 25.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,929 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,636 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $719,489,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,327,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910,471 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $801,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,283 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,511.2% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,758,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $499,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 53,148.8% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,319,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $374,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,027 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $322.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.0%

AJG stock opened at $315.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.71 billion, a PE ratio of 45.61 and a beta of 0.71. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $267.00 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $322.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $322.73.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is 37.63%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total transaction of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. The trade was a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total value of $3,540,285.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 91,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,741,474.75. The trade was a 10.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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