Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 54,394 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 54,394 shares and leaving it with about 1.31 million shares worth $338.1 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall: AJG has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $264, after recent upgrades from BMO Capital Markets and Citigroup.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $4.47, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, payable June 19, for an annualized yield of about 1.3%.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,306,475 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 54,394 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.51% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $338,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the second 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. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 668.2% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG opened at $210.77 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $337.33. The stock has a market cap of $54.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $210.44 and a 200-day moving average of $229.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.31%.

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

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AJG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.