Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Takes Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Key Points

• Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter, purchasing 26,191 shares valued at approximately $9,042,000.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported $2.33 earnings per share, missing analysts' expectations by $0.03, but showed a 16.0% revenue increase compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65, with an annualized yield of 0.9%, set to be paid on September 19th to investors of record on September 5th.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 26,191 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,042,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,015 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 24,006 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,814,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 728,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $206,906,000 after buying an additional 48,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 3,923 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $317.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $331.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,109,256.33. This trade represents a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total transaction of $3,540,285.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 91,175 shares in the company, valued at $30,741,474.75. This represents a 10.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $292.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $308.01 and a 200-day moving average of $322.58. 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. has a 12 month low of $274.25 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.57 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share 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. Investors 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 yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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