Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 40,690 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 54.4%, selling 40,690 shares, bringing its total ownership to 34,085 shares valued at approximately $10.91 million.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher by 38.3%, now owning over 17.3 million shares valued at nearly $6 billion, while other institutional investors also made significant adjustments to their positions.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook on the stock, with ratings ranging from a Strong Buy to Hold, and a consensus price target set at $331.43.

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 54.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 40,690 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $10,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AJG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,997,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815,007 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,499,185,000 after purchasing an additional 739,130 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $240,665,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3,142.2% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,911 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $221,268,000 after purchasing an additional 621,143 shares during the period. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $136,565,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AJG shares. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price 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, July 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $331.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $278.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $71.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.59 and a beta of 0.73. The business's fifty day moving average is $299.11 and its 200 day moving average is $313.13. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $275.56 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.

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