Squarepoint Ops LLC Trims Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lessened its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 82.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,895 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 27,346 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hartford Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 15,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,381,000 after buying an additional 1,537 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 181,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,905 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 28,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,963,000 after purchasing an additional 5,333 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 51,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,688,000 after purchasing an additional 6,248 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 337.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total value of $342,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,510 shares of company stock worth $11,033,341. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $318.57.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $3.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $345.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,035,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,329,490. The firm has a market cap of $88.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.01 and a beta of 0.78. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $250.72 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The business's 50-day moving average is $333.17 and its 200 day moving average is $316.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.63%.

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.