Axiom Investors LLC DE Buys 201,900 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 34.9% in Q1, now holding 781,227 shares, which comprises 2.5% of their total portfolio.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported a net margin of 14.54% and a year-over-year revenue growth of 16.0% for the latest quarter, but missed EPS estimates by $0.03.
• The company has declared a $0.65 quarterly dividend, with a 0.9% yield and a payout ratio of 36.93%, payable on September 19th.

Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 34.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 781,227 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 201,900 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 2.5% of Axiom Investors LLC DE's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned approximately 0.31% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $269,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cadence Bank boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 91.9% in the first quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 667,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $213,451,000 after buying an additional 319,820 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.0% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 14,693 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,073,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,569,792. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE AJG traded up $4.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $297.89. 759,955 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,529,966. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $274.25 and a one year high of $351.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $320.19. The stock has a market cap of $76.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.31 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $344.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $317.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $333.13.

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.