Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 103,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,374 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $35,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $318.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:AJG traded down $2.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $311.52. The stock had a trading volume of 715,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,388,463. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $327.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $320.93. The company has a market capitalization of $79.78 billion, a PE ratio of 45.08 and a beta of 0.71. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $267.00 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 45,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total transaction of $4,645,755.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,109,256.33. The trade was a 53.06% 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 worth $8,528,080 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.