Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Sells 4,955 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 50.8% in Q4, selling 4,955 shares and leaving it with 4,799 shares valued at $1.242 million.
• Senior insiders also sold sizable positions recently: VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares (~$227.12 each) and VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares (~$227.57 each), leaving insiders with about 1.40% ownership.
• Arthur J. Gallagher raised its quarterly dividend to $0.70 (annualized $2.80, yield 1.3%) and reported a slight EPS beat for the quarter ($2.38 vs. $2.35) with revenue up 33.9% year-over-year.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lowered its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 50.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,955 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 668.2% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $221.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $195.00 and a one year high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.68. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $216.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $246.03.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 45.53%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the business'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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $246.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $273.94.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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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