Comerica Bank Reduces Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Comerica Bank cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.8% in Q3, selling 35,472 shares and now holding 222,225 shares valued at about $68.8 million (≈0.09% of the company).
• Insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 32,650 shares worth roughly $8.14 million over the last quarter (notable sales by VPs Scott R. Hudson and Christopher E. Mead); insiders now own 1.60% while institutional investors hold 85.53%.
• Dividend raised and mixed analyst view: the company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.70 ($2.80 annualized, 1.3% yield), while analysts' consensus rating remains a "Hold" with a $282.65 price target despite a slight EPS beat in the last quarter.

Comerica Bank trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 222,225 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 35,472 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned 0.09% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $68,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. 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 3,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 32,650 shares of company stock valued at $8,137,686 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AJG shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $271.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $282.65.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $207.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $234.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $195.00 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $53.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.53%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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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