UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Purchases 90,606 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• UBS AM increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3%, owning 1,529,566 shares valued at approximately $528.07 million as of the last quarter.
• Several hedge funds are adjusting their holdings, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. increasing its position by 38.3% and Vanguard Group Inc. raising its stake by 2.5%.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a recent quarterly EPS of $2.33, missing analyst estimates of $2.36, while reporting a 16% increase in revenue year-over-year.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,529,566 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 90,606 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned 0.60% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $528,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth about $58,041,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,494 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $330,000. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.0% during the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 6,179 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,133,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% during the first quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 6,757 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,333,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,569,792. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.78, for a total value of $899,340.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,407,849.06. The trade was a 2.55% 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $344.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $333.13.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded down $5.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $291.45. 328,664 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,525,173. The stock has a market cap of $74.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.33 and a beta of 0.72. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $300.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $319.61.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.