Capital Management Associates Inc Invests $394,000 in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Capital Management Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 22.5% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $382,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 337.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 2,502 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 948 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

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

In other news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 45,323 shares in the company, valued at $15,502,278.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded down $1.64 on Thursday, reaching $313.61. 948,805 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,383,204. The company's 50 day moving average is $328.28 and its 200-day moving average is $320.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $263.56 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.32 billion, a PE ratio of 45.39 and a beta of 0.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 14.83%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Barclays cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $318.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.