Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,323 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,628 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $23,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,299,674,000 after buying an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $272,670,000 after buying an additional 1,042,361 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.5% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,107,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $962,483,000 after buying an additional 725,555 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,866,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $887,976,000 after purchasing an additional 593,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,270,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,013,100,000 after purchasing an additional 395,304 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.7%
AJG stock opened at $203.69 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $212.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.39. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $190.75 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 45.31%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $268.00.
View Our Latest Research Report on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
(
Free Report)
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.
The company's core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.
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