Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 13,976 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.4%, owning 426,280 shares worth approximately $147.17 million as of the latest filing.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported earnings per share of $2.33 for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.03, while revenue grew by 16.0% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 426,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 13,976 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.17% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $147,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,499,185,000 after buying an additional 739,130 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,997,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815,007 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in 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. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,957,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $839,524,000 after buying an additional 260,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,364,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $816,409,000 after purchasing an additional 9,458 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $317.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $331.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded up $0.96 during trading on Thursday, reaching $299.68. The stock had a trading volume of 769,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,538,732. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.57 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $305.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $321.89. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $274.25 and a 52 week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company 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 company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 36.93%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.