Leeward Financial Partners LLC Sells 5,522 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Leeward Financial Partners cut its Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stake by 70.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,522 shares and leaving it with 2,272 shares valued at about $588,000.
• Two AJG vice presidents sold shares in early March: Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares and Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares, both at prices around $227 per share.
• Arthur J. Gallagher reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS estimates with $4.47 per share and raising revenue 29% year over year, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a $264 average price target.

Leeward Financial Partners LLC lowered its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 70.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,272 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,522 shares during the period. Leeward Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $588,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% in the second quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,398,000 after buying an additional 19,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $412,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $202.90 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $211.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $231.48. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.83, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.54. 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 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 firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. UBS Group set a $240.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.00.

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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