Rafferty Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3%, selling 4,650 shares, bringing its holdings to 83,387 shares valued at approximately $28.79 million.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported a Q2 earnings miss, with EPS of $2.33, falling short of the $2.36 consensus estimate, despite a 16.0% year-over-year revenue increase to $3.18 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65, which represents a yield of 0.9%, with the payment set for September 19th for stockholders of record by September 5th.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 83,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,650 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $28,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AJG. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. Barclays reduced 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 research note on Monday, July 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $317.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $331.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE AJG opened at $298.72 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $274.25 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $76.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.43 and a beta of 0.68. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $306.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $322.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.