CIBC Asset Management Inc Buys 27,782 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• CIBC Asset Management increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 48.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 27,782 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 84,551 shares valued at about $21.9 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with 11 analysts rating the stock Buy and eight at Hold; the consensus view is a Moderate Buy with a $264 average price target.
• Arthur J. Gallagher recently beat quarterly EPS expectations, reported 29% year-over-year revenue growth, and announced a $0.70 quarterly dividend payable on June 19.

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 48.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 27,782 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $21,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $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 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 668.2% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $240.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock 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 company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $210.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.38. The company 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.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 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.

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.