Guinness Asset Management LTD Lowers Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Guinness Asset Management reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 25,592 shares and leaving it with 805,533 shares valued at about $211.5 million.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.47 per share, topping estimates by $0.04, while revenue rose 29% year over year to $4.71 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, payable June 19, representing an annualized yield of 1.4%.

Guinness Asset Management LTD trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 805,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,592 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up approximately 3.4% of Guinness Asset Management LTD's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Guinness Asset Management LTD owned approximately 0.31% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $211,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 217,136 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,783,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,649,477,000 after purchasing an additional 101,298 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 147,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,228,156,000 after purchasing an additional 45,256 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $204.89 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $190.75 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $211.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.15, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 45.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. 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, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.00.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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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