Bank of Nova Scotia Has $7.75 Million Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia cut its Arthur J. Gallagher stake by 11.5% in the first quarter, selling 4,628 shares and retaining 35,783 shares worth approximately $7.75 million. Institutional investors collectively own 85.53% of AJG.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 13 Buy ratings and five Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $280.35.
• Arthur J. Gallagher reported quarterly EPS of $4.47, slightly above estimates, while revenue rose 29% year over year to $4.71 billion. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, representing a 1.1% yield.

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,628 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,947 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% in the second quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,398,000 after purchasing an additional 19,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $412,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $276.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup raised shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $280.35.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $247.57 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $226.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.95. 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. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $315.48. The firm has a market cap of $63.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

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.

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