Wealthspire Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 79.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,365 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $382,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,879,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Grand Managers LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,096,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $30,741,474.75. This represents a 10.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,109,256.33. This trade represents a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $345.00 to $322.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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 note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays cut 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $329.15.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.2%

AJG opened at $286.47 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $274.25 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The business's 50 day moving average is $315.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $322.72. The firm has a market cap of $73.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.69 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.93%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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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