Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 60,939 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,873,049 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 60,939 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.12% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $991,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after buying an additional 3,851,661 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,067,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,857,737,000 after buying an additional 305,876 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,327,403,000 after buying an additional 1,910,471 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,779,248,000 after purchasing an additional 787,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $1,421,591,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $318.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.3%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $7.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $308.07. 1,010,804 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,390,723. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $267.00 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.58 and a beta of 0.71. The firm's 50 day moving average is $326.78 and its 200-day moving average is $321.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 14.83%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 37.63%.

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

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total value of $3,540,285.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 91,175 shares in the company, valued at $30,741,474.75. This trade represents a 10.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total transaction of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.