Flputnam Investment Management Co. Decreases Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,138 shares and leaving it with 9,879 shares valued at about $2.56 million.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.47 per share, while revenue came in slightly below estimates but still rose 29% year over year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $264.00.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. cut its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,138 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 668.2% during 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. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AJG. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group set a $240.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of AJG stock opened at $202.61 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.15.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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