United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• United Super Pty Ltd cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 29,120 shares and leaving it with 116,985 shares valued at about $30.3 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on AJG remains generally positive, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $264, though several firms recently trimmed their targets.
• Arthur J. Gallagher posted better-than-expected EPS of $4.47 in its latest quarter and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 1.4%.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund reduced its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 29,120 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $30,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 668.2% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Citigroup raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $264.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $202.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $211.27 and a 200-day moving average of $231.15.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.26 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction 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 represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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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