KBC Group NV Sells 21,321 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• KBC Group NV reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.8% in the first quarter, selling 21,321 shares and leaving it with 122,358 shares valued at about $26.5 million.
• Insider activity included CAO Richard C. Cary selling 3,000 shares on June 2 at $206 each, a transaction worth $618,000.
• Analysts remain generally positive on AJG: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $280.35, while recent quarterly earnings beat EPS expectations and revenue rose 29% year over year.

KBC Group NV trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,358 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 21,321 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $26,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at $12,041,000. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 753,660 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $163,228,000 after buying an additional 51,040 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 789,499 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $170,990,000 after buying an additional 251,340 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $377,000. Finally, Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $7,427,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $276.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $242.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $280.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.3%

AJG stock opened at $247.91 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $223.46 and its 200 day moving average is $225.27. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $315.48. The stock has a market cap of $63.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

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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