Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management Makes New $8.24 Million Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management initiated a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., buying 31,855 shares worth about $8.24 million in the fourth quarter.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with EPS of $4.47 topping estimates by $0.04 and revenue rising 29% year over year to $4.71 billion.
• The company continues to draw strong institutional interest, with hedge funds and large asset managers holding 85.53% of the stock, while analysts currently rate AJG a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $263.71.

Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 31,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,244,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,123,534,000 after buying an additional 217,136 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,299,674,000 after buying an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,264,359,000 after buying an additional 830,252 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,891,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,373,403,000 after buying an additional 147,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $1,925,062,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $218.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $327.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $283.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.71.

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.