Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock Position Decreased by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 838 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $23,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,422,435,000 after buying an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,067,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,857,737,000 after purchasing an additional 305,876 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,327,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910,471 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,779,248,000 after purchasing an additional 787,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $1,421,591,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $319.29.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $3.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $320.84. 2,537,122 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,350,986. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $251.42 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.43 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $330.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $317.56.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 37.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total value of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.