NewEdge Advisors LLC Purchases 18,207 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.7%, now holding approximately $71.35 million worth of shares.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about the company's prospects, with Cantor Fitzgerald upgrading its rating to "strong-buy" while consensus overall remains a "Hold" with a target price of $333.13.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65, representing a 0.9% yield, with a payout ratio of 36.93%.

NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 206,676 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,207 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $71,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,499,185,000 after purchasing an additional 739,130 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,997,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,815,007 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,959,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,021,798,000 after acquiring an additional 137,354 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,364,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $816,409,000 after acquiring an additional 9,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,336,591 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $796,217,000 after acquiring an additional 7,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AJG stock traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $299.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,217,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,308,466. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $302.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $320.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $274.25 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $76.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.47 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $345.00 to $322.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $333.13.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.