Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 24,261 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Gamco Investors cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 95% in the fourth quarter, selling 24,261 shares and leaving it with 1,268 shares worth about $328,000.
• Analysts remain generally positive on AJG: several firms kept or raised bullish ratings, and the stock’s consensus view is a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $264.
• Arthur J. Gallagher reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $4.47, while revenue rose 29% year over year; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, payable June 19.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 95.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 24,261 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the 2nd 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 period. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $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 during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position 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 worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.00.

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

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, 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 this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $204.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.54. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $211.64 and a 200 day moving average of $232.49. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $190.75 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

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.

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.