Nykredit A S Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Nykredit A/S initiated a sizable position in Arthur J. Gallagher, purchasing 81,908 shares worth approximately $18.8 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 85.53% of AJG.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with 14 Buy ratings and five Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $289.83. Recent target changes included increases from Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.
• Gallagher reported quarterly EPS of $2.84, slightly above estimates, while revenue rose 24.3% year over year to $3.95 billion. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, although insiders sold 28,500 shares worth about $7.6 million over the past 90 days.

Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 81,908 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $18,804,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 811 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 96,002 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $3,587,000. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 94.4% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,696 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 3,251 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.4% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,791,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $299.00 to $296.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $289.83.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $239.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $61.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.69, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $190.75 and a 1-year high of $313.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $254.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is 46.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott Hudson sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.13, for a total value of $3,169,560.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 90,262 shares in the company, valued at $23,840,902.06. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Walter Bay sold 12,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total value of $3,240,960.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 71,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,254,543.36. This represents a 14.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 28,500 shares of company stock worth $7,562,950 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting company. The company helps businesses, institutions and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance and related services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting, risk management, claims administration, actuarial services, captive insurance and wholesale brokerage. Gallagher arranges commercial property and casualty coverage, personal insurance, specialty insurance and employee benefit programs, while also providing services designed to help clients manage workplace, liability and other operational risks.

Founded in 1927 by Arthur J.

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