Unisphere Establishment Reduces Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Unisphere Establishment trimmed its Arthur J. Gallagher stake by 1.4% in Q1, selling 8,800 shares and leaving it with 635,700 shares valued at about $137.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with AJG carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $280.35, even though several firms recently adjusted their ratings or targets.
• Arthur J. Gallagher reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.47 per share and raised revenue 29% year over year, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share.

Unisphere Establishment decreased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 635,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,800 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up about 1.2% of Unisphere Establishment's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Unisphere Establishment owned 0.25% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $137,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dearborn Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 133,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,661,000 after buying an additional 7,946 shares during the period. Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $3,571,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 154,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,965,000 after acquiring an additional 44,824 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 80.1% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 22,173 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,738,000 after acquiring an additional 9,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $1,371,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $242.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $280.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $247.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $315.48. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $226.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.22.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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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