PFG Advisors Acquires 6,952 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

PFG Advisors grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 37.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,952 shares during the period. PFG Advisors' holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $8,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 214.7% during the first quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,191 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,720,000 after buying an additional 14,458 shares during the last quarter. Bingham Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $259,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.6% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 910 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $232,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.0% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 19,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $318.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $310.94. 319,653 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,505,890. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $267.00 and a one year high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $79.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.04 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $323.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $322.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business 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 was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend 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 other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total transaction of $3,540,285.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 91,175 shares in the company, valued at $30,741,474.75. The trade was a 10.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 sale, the insider owned 11,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. The trade was a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.